IS Virus: Episode 10 -Quarantine-
by tonbonkittybon
Summary: When the four seasons converge before the sunrise, they will burst into a flame of judgement. Sokoto is the daring summer. Autumn is the deceptive autumn. Madoka is the harsh winter. The Silverio Gospel is the flowing spring. They have all been brought together in Japan. It's time. SEASON 1 FINALE
1. Convergence

_Infinite Stratos Virus: Episode 10 - Quarantine **[SEASON 1 FINALE]**_

 _Part 1: Convergence_

 **-00:00-**

The time was midnight. The setting was the resting place of those who had given up on life. Nothing could be more fitting for a final showdown, save for highly enhanced exoskeletons that, supposedly, only women could use. Until now. When five years ago, a male emerged as an IS pilot, he would save Japan from two potential disasters, and he earned the mostly reluctant admiration of the women of the world.

Now, present day. Another male has emerged as an IS pilot. The renegade. Who knows only hurt, fear, resentment, and vengeance. For his fallen comrade Squall, and for the lives that have been ruined because of the IS, he vowed to destroy Japan. Or, at the very least, the region surrounding Mt. Fuji.

As soon as the troops entered into the vicinity of the region, a gigantic siren blared throughout, declaring a potential state of emergency, and ordering all citizens residing anywhere in Chūbu to evacuate. Unfortunately, with the frightening speed of the battles seen so far, it was already too late.

The brigade of 21 pilots blasted their way into Mt. Fuji. Leading the charge was Tabane herself, piloting the Silver Streamline.

"Listen up, everyone," she shouted, "We're launching a surprise attack the moment we see him! Don't nobody let up even for a second!"

"Are we finally going to kill him?" Laura asked, "Or do you still need him for some god forsaken experiment?"

"He can't die that easily," Chelsea said, "Let's just attack with the intent to kill. That way, we can at least ensure he is unconscious."

"What about M and Autumn?" Laura remembered, "They've sided with the renegade..."

"They still have their doubts about him," Tabane said smugly, "After Squall got axed, their anger is overloading. And the moment they lose control of themselves is when I'll finish them."

"I see him!" Someone shouted from behind, "He's down by that tree!"

"I get first crack," Tabane prepped for an IB, "I can't wait to see the fruits of my labor."

Tabane charged energy into her feet for three seconds, and let loose a Mach 2 Ignition Boost. Laura waited until Tabane blasted off to charge in. Chelsea sent a quick message to Cecilia, against her better judgment, before motioning the other pilots to get in formation and charge in.

Tabane rushed Sokoto, who was by himself, kneeling beside the tree, still holding his dead comrade's hand. She smirked as she readied to punch his lights out when she finally came in range.

But just when she was about to reach him, Silver appeared out of nowhere and kicked her away, crashing in the ground. Laura saw the Gospel and fired her railgun, but Silver threw her shield into the rockets to cancel her shot. Laura moved in and activated her AIC, but Silver threw her sword in the way, opening her wings to envelope Laura.

Chelsea tried to thrust her sword into the bright energy ball, but the shield came back and blocked her strike, and the ball exploded sending a massive shockwave that repelled her and Laura. Silver caught the shield and threw it to Sokoto, who used it to block Tabane's sudden attack and throw off the other pilots. Silver rushed back and repelled everyone but Tabane, who would've thrown Silver backward, were it not for Sokoto socking her mouth. Tabane was forced behind the line of scrimmage, with Laura and Chelsea at her side, and 18 pilots behind, versus Sokoto and Silver, shield and sword.

"So..." Sokoto said, "You heathens gathered here after all...and I half-expected you to surprise me with hoodies..."

"Don't you dare make light of us, renegade!" Chelsea pointed her saber at him.

"Or what, privileged b*?!" Sokoto blurted out.

Laura readied her railgun, "Take that back, Schwein sauger!"

"You don't have an aura!" Sokoto shouted, "You're not even human, so butt out!"

Tabane raised her hand to Laura's face to stop her from doing anything reckless. She turned to Sokoto, "Fine. We'll skip the foreplay and jump right into it. Sound good?"

Silver retreated into its standby mode.

Sokoto glared, "Whatever you say, devil play girl."

"Huh..." Tabane cringed.

"I know everything about your little scheme!" Sokoto deployed the Gospel, "I know it was you who fired every single bit of missilery on the planet right here! And I know you made a deal with whoever piloted the White Knight to make a spectacle of the most powerful weapon in the world, just to turn people's heads sideways and say, F* YOU!" He changed his color scheme to blood red, "Gotta say...pride makes you screw up so much s***, don't it?"

"You..." For the second time in her life, Tabane was utterly broken, "Who told you this?..."

"What nonsense are you sputtering, renegade?" Laura couldn't wait any longer. She jumped and prepped her wire daggers, "Save your false testimonies for the dead!" She charged ahead and unleashed the daggers at Sokoto, who blocked them all with his shield. She plunged her sword into his shield, but he caught it. He used the wings for her, but Silver redirected them behind him. They enveloped Chelsea, who tried a sneak attack, but was caught long before. Sokoto hopped over and threw Chelsea into Laura before blasting off towards Tabane, who stood her ground with some pilots protecting her. He dodged all pilots in his way to get to Tabane. Once their punches connected,

"No two ways about it!" Tabane said, "You have to die!"

"Amuse me," Sokoto said as he allowed the anger in him to overtake his body. The anger translated into additional power, enough to repel Tabane with a single push and deal with the pilots behind him.

 **-(EARLIER) 23:16-**

Meanwhile, Autumn and Madoka snuck their way into the camp by jumping into a truck and killing the drivers. They donned their outfits before they came into view of the camp guards.

"Finally..." Madoka said, "I can finally taste the blood of my victims..."

"More where that came from," Autumn pointed, "Look who's come to greet us."

At the gates, two guards came to check on the contents of the truck. Once everything was all clear, they let it pass into the compound. The duo saw more than they bargained for back on the hills. Torture unimaginable , enough to make even Autumn look away. At one point, they were forced to open the hood just to burn off a man's penis. After which, they drove into the garage.

"So, now what?" Madoka asked.

"I've done a preliminary scan," Autumn explained, "No communications or IS tech within or without. This place is completely cut off from the outside world, meaning no help for anyone."

"So, we can start killing them?"

"Live stream first. We get caught or finish exploring, then we kill."

"Fine..." she grumbled as they walked out to do their part.

Autumn went to her assigned station and carried a tray of mediocre food to a cell on the top floor.

"Hey!" Someone found her, "Where do you think you're going with that?!"

Autumn froze, but immediately regained her composure, "What? Can't I eat my own food at my own job?"

The officer stared at the tray, "You wanna eat...THAT..."

Autumn realized that the tray was full of slightly rotten food. With extremely quick thinking, "Ok, fine! The guy didn't wear the pants the way I wanted him to, so he ain't getting this s***!"

"Little overboard, but totally understandable," the officer said, "Just make sure it's not a repeat steal. We're short on lumber this month after all..."

"I got it," Autumn said as the officer left. She walked the other way and thought, 'Does anyone in the camp make any f***ing sense?!' Then, she dumped the tray in a trash can and started her private channel link, 'Let's just hurry up and get to the slaughterfest...' She waited until she felt her necklace vibrated, meaning she has an undetectable connection to all Japanese broadcasting satellites. She tapped her chest and interrupted every single channel to stream everything she saw. She began her walkabout, touching off on every corner, making sure she looked everywhere for what she needed. She hated every moment of it.

"I don't know what I've just seen," she whispered, "but I would give anything to unsee it. There are men-well, men I understand, but little boys who don't even know what the word puberty means? Being made to become a slave-look at this right here." She looked into a room where- "They deprived his senses and turned him into a walking sperm bank. Ok, that's mild, but over...heeeeeerrreeee...Gotcha!" Cafeteria. "They are thoroughly searched every five minutes and-" Someone asked her to stop, and she picked him up and slammed him against more prisoners. "Yeah...sad, ain't it?"

Madoka connected through her bracelets, ensuring that the live stream stays uninterrupted. And while Autumn seemed to have gotten the cringeworthy aspects of male torture, she got the extreme aspects. "I never thought I'd have Blue balls from seeing this many heads roll," she grunted, "I wanna kill these women so badly..." She stumbled upon the courtyard, where women have men on their knees by the chains, forcing them all to witness a little boy...suffocate? "Well, it's just her crotch, it ain't-WHAT THE F***?!" This was a hazing. A very septic initiation to all new prisoners. They were warned that if they ever lifted their heads, something worse would happen to them. "I have discovered all that is unholy..."

Autumn had wondered into the fields, where men and boys had to cut wood and turn it into lumber. "Take a look, people. If it were a little boy instead of a little girl, I guarantee you it'd be different." Then she saw a man getting electrically prodded by a female guard. When he asked if he could get back to work, she kneed his gut and accused him of obstruction. Then, a swarm of guards make quick humiliation out of him. "I just realized...don't they have a pool here?"

"They literally squirt semen in here..." Madoka sniffed the tray she delivered to a prisoner, "That, or testosterone, but this is just so wrong..." After she saw how their daily food supply was maintained, she thought nothing could top that. And then, she went to the cell to deliver the tray.

A man was severely unaware of his current standing in the world, and wanted nothing to do with the women around him. So...they had the idea to give him a facelift. Swap his face with that of a woman's. Without anesthetics or morphines. Madoka was hit with a bad case of irony. She remembered a time when she wanted to scar her face unrecognizable because of her likeness to those who shan't be named.

And not five seconds after she witnessed the cell did she decide that she had seen enough.

She mentally wired a private text to Autumn, who was lucky enough to be in the bathrooms went it was sent, "PLEASE LET ME KILL :("

Autumn felt the urge to kill as well, but she had to hold it in beca-

Not two steps out of the MANually-cleaned toilets did she wander into deja vu as well.

A 10-person gang-raping in progress. Against one little boy who simply asked when he could see his mother again. The guards responded by stripping him and having their way with him. She suddenly flashed to the empty streets of Austria, that night she lost her way and couldn't find her mother. Then, they came.

Autumn sent to Madoka, "Go wild. Eat everyone. ;)"

They cut the broadcast and walked up to confront the people that triggered their memories. They saw that there was no way of curing the trauma that the males were suffering. So, they stormed into their respective areas and killed all the women first. Then they slowly walked to their targets and endured their heartbreak.

Madoka didn't need to say anything to see the impact firsthand. She knelt down and gently ran her hand across his bloodied cheeks, and he wailed. She went down and hugged him. "It's ok..." she said, "You won't endure anymore..." The more she stroked his face, the more he calmed down, to the point where they decided that it was enough. She cuddled up to his head and snapped his neck. She stood still and covered his eyes, mourning the life he had prior to this. Just then, the guards came and held her at gun point.

"What do you think you're doing?" One of them demanded, "You're aiding the enemy by doing this!"

"Oh...am I?" she hissed, "Because I'd like to think I'm toying with the enemy."

"Kill her now!" The official commanded, and the guards fired on her. But no bullets came through. "It can't be..." she shook, "Is she a pilot?!"

Madoka didn't give her any time to process the situation. She threw a scaffold into her eyes and ripped it off. She did the same thing with the other guards, prompting the last to radio for help before Madoka killed her as well.

"Go on..." Madoka was consumed by bloodlust, "Bring them to me..."

Autumn held the boy down as he begged for his mother.

"Please..." he sobbed, "I want to see mommy again...They hated her because of me...I wanted to say I'm sorry..."

"It's ok..." she said, "I've been through this before..."

"Really?" he asked.

"They took my parents too... and I had to live a cruel life since then..."

"Why?"

"Dunno..."

The guards saw what happened and confronted her at gun point.

"If you don't want to die," the officer who put a gun on Autumn's head said, "give the boy to us..."

"You wanna see her again...don't you?..." Autumn whispered.

"Yes..." the boy said.

When the guards saw that they were ignored, they fired. Autumn moved the boy's heart into the officer's line of fire. But the other bullets hit her barrier. The boy was shocked.

"Why..." he exasperated.

"This," Autumn swung around the boy and kicked the gun out of the officer's hands. Then, she shot everyone surrounding them. She laid the boy down and plucked a lone flower to give him.

"Give that to her," she said, "and tell her I picked you up and took you home."

"Ok..." he muttered tearfully, "But...what about you..."

"Your vengeance is now mine," she stood up and faced the oncoming crowd, "No need to sully your hands."

"She's in league with the renegade!" Someone shouted, "Get her!"

An alarm blared throughout the camp. All prisoners were being told to go back to their cells. Not that it mattered, because Autumn and Madoka had one simple objective: make sure no one leaves here alive.

 **-00:15-**

Sokoto was still juggling pilots left and right. Neither side can seem to get in a solid hit. He was throwing attacks away from him because his real aim was to find a way to get through to Silvia. So far, Tabane was moving too fast to get any data on her weaknesses, if any. Finally, Chelsea distracted him long enough to catch him in Laura's AIC, and Tabane got a hard punch in and revealed her enhancements to the Streamline. She opened her palms and pelted him with numerous giant energy balls, rendering his shield and sword unusable. He fell hard to the ground.

"Ugh..." he grunted, "Watch a bit too much Dragon Ball Z, huh?..."

"Give up now, pipsqueak!" Tabane said hovering above him, "I got you figured out!"

Sokoto read from her aura that the worst has happened. He crossed his fingers-

"They didn't ditch you!" She said, "They hid until you can show everyone your little discovery! You wanna take the IS away from us!"

"What...even..." Laura said, "Didn't we have enough reason to take him out?..."

"Yeah, but I can't help it. I love rubbing it in his face," Tabane pointed to his now raging face, "So, I blocked his stuff and deleted...whatever he did..."

"YOU WHAT?!" Sokoto was right. Everything he and his new sisters did was all for naught. Which meant f*** everything and wing it. "Silver," he whispered, "Boot up Bodies by Drowning Pool. Hold it until I say the word "play", ok?"

"Wait," Chelsea interrupted, "Why couldn't we broadcast his defeat?"

They all stared at him and realized that they could've shown the world that they dominated him long before. Tabane was just fooling around, but now it was time to get serious. They connected to national television and gathered the other pilots for one final round.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sokoto said, rising to their eye level.

"You're down on energy and out of breath!" Laura said, "You might want to end it now and avoid the suffering!"

"Nah," here he comes, "I'm always ready to play." The right time. Silver hit play.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor._ _Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the-)_

Sokoto convinced himself that Silvia was gone forever and allowed himself to be consumed by vengeance.

Tabane and two other pilots noticed what he was trying to do, so they rushed him and tried to punch him down, but he shielded himself with his wings. They kept pounding until they were pushed back by a sudden burst wave. The wings opened up.

 _(-FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!)_

Sokoto and Silver emerged, angrier than ever. The wings turned into red energy blades. Just one swing of the wings was enough to shred a standard issue IS. And its pilot.

Tabane shielded her eyes. She expected him to do this, but not this soon. Or to a song. The energy readings she got from him were tenfold compared to just a few days ago! She peeked into his display helm:

EMERGENCY OVERRIDE. CONVERTING EXCESS ANGER INTO WING ENERGY. MAX THREE MINUTES TEN SECONDS.

Laura remembered what she saw on TV during the previous escape. The renegade did the same thing, but he shot out lasers to scar the earth, instead of concentrating all energy in one area. And they just saw that energy utterly shred someone! She thought of trying to convince Tabane to retreat-

 _(Beaten, why for? [Why for?])_

Sokoto scratched his wings into Laura, blasting her to the forest floor. Laura fired her railgun and wired daggers in an effort to cling herself to the renegade and bring herself back to the sky. Sokoto swatted the rocket away and allowed her to grapple onto him and yanked her up. She caught him with her AIC and blasted him.

 _(Can't take much more! [Here we go! Here we go! Here we go now!])_

The instant it hit, Sokoto grabbed the wires and used the recoil to swing Laura into two other pilots. Chelsea stabbed him and kicked him back, becoming his new target. But he got hit by Tabane's palmar blast and the pilots' rockets. Another pilot came down with her great sword, but he broke it with a single fist.

 _(ONE! Nothing wrong with me!)_

He brutally murdered the pilot with one slash of his wings.

 _(TWO! Nothing wrong with me!)_

Then, he shot out a gigantic laser show, destroying all things caught in its path and causing more damage to the forest.

 _(THREE! Nothing wrong with me!)_

Several regular pilots got caught in the blasts.

 _(FOUR! Nothing wrong with me!)_

Chelsea protected Laura using her saber while pulling her in for another charge.

 _(ONE! Something's got to give!)_

Tabane saw a blind spot, and she motioned three more pilots to follow her in.

 _(TWO! Something's got to give!)_

All surviving pilots flew in, dodging everything trying to get to the epicenter of the energy release.

 _(THREE! Something's got to give!)_

Laura and Chelsea thrust their swords forward, while the remaining pilots fired another round of energy blasts. It was enough to counteract the lasers, giving Tabane a wide opening to burst in.

 _(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!)_

Silver anticipated that kind of surprise attack. She turned off her lasers and slammed her wings in Tabane, who dodged them and landed straight for Sokoto. He followed up with another brutal jaw punch, building his anger up even more.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the)_

It was a different story at the prison camp. Autumn and Madoka were having the best time of their lives. They got to kill just as much people in this one place than they did throughout Japan as Phantom Task members, maybe even more.

 _(floooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!)_

Madoka most of all, because she jumped off a second floor railing and spun in midair, letting loose a light machine gun.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the)_

Madoka landed her feet on a skull and scraped the rest of the interior with blades and blood.

While Autumn remodeled the exterior extensively. She had already unleashed her Shinomure and cleared out the numerous trees and female staff using her wind blades alone. Now and then, she would literally toy with her female victims before she-

 _(floooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!)_

-literally tore them up.

Needless to say, they most certainly finished their objective. And now all that's left is to take out the trash.

 _(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!)_

They let out a final war cry before finishing their job. At the same time Sokoto let out a scream that the whole region heard.

 _(Push me again. [again])_

Sokoto chased after anyone that was near him, managing to kill off five pilots with just his bare hands, and at one point seriously wounding Chelsea.

 _(This is the end! [Here we go! Here we go! Here we go now!])_

Tabane punched him away and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, stretching over the base of the mountain. The pilots provided cover fire, while Laura and Chelsea moved behind, waiting for a chance to triple team him. Sokoto kept his wings to the ground to leave a massive trench behind.

 _(ONE! Nothing wrong with me!)_

Tabane slammed him with her hook shot and pulled him up into a giant energy blast. He twisted around her and slammed his wings into her.

 _(TWO! Nothing wrong with me!)_

Tabane grabbed his leg, and Chelsea rushed in for a quick burst.

 _(THREE! Nothing wrong with me!)_

Sokoto caught her sword and threw her away, but that left another wide opening for Laura to blast her rocket in.

 _(FOUR! Nothing wrong with me!)_

He took the hit and swung down to block Tabane's blitz. But Chelsea's surprise attack pushed him into Laura's AIC.

 _(ONE! Something's got to give!)_

Everyone got a pound in him.

 _(TWO! Something's got to give!)_

Each hit shook him up even more, and eventually he had enough emotional turmoil to break the AIC.

 _(THREE! Something's got to give!)_

And Laura felt it. She tried to hold him in place, long enough for the rest of the party to drain his shield energy.

 _(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!)_

But it was nowhere near enough. With the clench of his fists and a hearty shout, he easily shattered the AIC.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the)_

Sokot moved towards Laura, but Tabane quickly blasted in his face. She kept punching him until she saw his wings enclose on her. She caught them, but she couldn't keep them from closing in on her until Chelsea leaped up.

 _(flooooooOOOOOOR!)_

Chelsea slashed bits of his wings off, enough to free Tabane and make him wince. Tabane punched Chelsea forward.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor!)_

Chelsea was able to get some good hits, and then she traded blows with Tabane. But he was able to push them away, while dodging Laura's sword strikes. Laura fired her railgun, and he took the hit, only to propel himself into the normal pilots.

 _(Skin against skin, blood and bone!)_

Sokoto proceeded to slice through the IS and literally tear her up.

 _(You're all by yourself, but you're not alone!)_

Once he was done with that pilot, he IB'd into the rest of the regular pilots. And no one was fast enough to stop him.

 _(You wanted in, and now you're here! Driven by hate, consumed by fear!)_

He sliced up the rest of the pilots in gory fashion. On the off chance that Tabane, Laura, or Chelsea got close enough to hit him, he simply moved out of the way so that they could finish the job for him.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor.)_

Upon killing the last of the regulars, Sokoto threw Chelsea into Tabane and slowed her down. He caught Laura's hand sabers, but couldn't see her wire daggers fly into his wings and pin him to the ground.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor! LET THE BODIES HIT THE)_

Laura fired on all cylinders and slammed her blades and railgun into him, followed by Tabane's sudden energy bombardment. Chelsea stomped on his face, then pushed Tabane away from him before his wings exploded.

 _(FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRR!)_

He broke his restraints and flew straight at Tabane, who met his fist with hers. She tried to wrangle him in, but he kicked her down to the mountain's side. He kicked her gut at the same time she blasted his face. Chelsea stabbed his back and flung him to the mountain's summit, which Laura conveniently blew off thanks to Sokoto dodging her rockets. Laura flew up to take him on, but he rained down a thousand energy comets in an attempt to finish them.

 _(ONE! Nothing wrong with me! TWO! Nothing wrong with me! THREE! Nothing wrong with me! FOUR! Nothing wrong with me!)_

By that time, Autumn and Madoka had killed literally every single person in the camp. The stood panting, not for air, but for more blood to spill. To them, 20,000 was insignificant. They needed a million.

Just then, they noticed the shower of energy bullets raining down on the Suicide Forest. Then, they realized that the renegade was fighting Tabane, the creator. And she has the Black Rain and the Crescendo under her control too. Their blood was worth 1.2 billion women.

 _(ONE! Something's got to give! TWO! Something's got to give! THREE! Something's got to give!)_

They deployed their ISs and powered up their Ignition Boosters to Mach 1.5, through sheer deranged murderous thoughts alone.

 _(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!)_

They blasted off towards the smell of brimstone. Madoka collided with Chelsea. Autumn rammed Laura aside.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the flooooooOOOOOOR!)_

Chelsea's wound was starting to become unbearable as she struggled to fend off Madoka's onslaught. Laura did not expect Autumn to return to his aide. She tried to use her AIC on Autumn, but the force of the wind alone kept her at bay, not to mention the damage the wind blades caused.

 _(Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor!)_

For the third time in her life, Tabane was shaken. She honestly thought that doing Squall in would demoralize them. The renegade must have done something to their heads, she thought. She came to the conclusion that she cannot drag this out any longer. She didn't have to, as the renegade plummeted downward, still firing the comets at her, finishing off what remained of the Suicide Forest. She IB'd into him.

 _(Heeeeeey! GO!)_

Madoka very quickly overwhelmed Chelsea and destroyed her IS.

 _(Heeeeeeey! GO!)_

Autumn threw Laura against the mountain, pounding her with wind and fists, chopping away pieces of her IS.

 _(Heeeeeeeey! GO!)_

Tabane was blown back and mildly wounded when she was slashed twice by his wings.

 _(Heeeeeeeey! GO!)_

Sokoto kicked her back against the mountainside. He pointed his wings at her and let out a Mach 2 IB.

But when the song ended, so did his Emergency Override. The Silver Gospel not only reverted back to her original blue color scheme, but Sokoto was separated from her. They both hit the ground hard.


	2. All the Cuss Words

_Part 2: All the Cuss Words_

Sokoto and Silver were down. They looked at each other, confused as to why the song ended too soon. Then, they looked up at Madoka beating the woman out of Chelsea and Autumn beating the rabbit out of Laura, and realized. They took too long to whittle their opponents down, and now they were at the mercy of their greatest foe.

"No..." Sokoto pulled himself up, "It...can't end like this..."

Silver propped her head up and checked her status. Everything went. The wings, the weapons, the barrier, all gone. She was regenerating energy, but not fast enough. She let out a panicked aura.

"What?!" Sokoto panicked too, "What are we gonna do now?!"

"Might I offer a suggestion?" Tabane withdrew the Streamline and kicked him back twenty yards.

Madoka sensed his pain. She was stuck between finishing Chelsea and going back to save him. She froze and waited to see what happened.

Tabane walked up to him and pinned his back down. "Give you credit," she muttered, "You did something no one's been able to do." She held him by his neck. "Piss me the f* off," she deployed her right arm. Silver got up and ran to save him, but she wasn't quick enough. When Tabane punched him, they both felt the pain. She punched him repeatedly before hammering his head into the ground, and Silver fell at the same time he did.

"Death row can wait," Madoka made her choice. She ditched killing Chelsea for saving Sokoto. She burst out to fight Tabane, only to be swung down and kicked out. Sokoto was thrown her way, but Silver saved him and set him down.

"Oh, not good," Autumn saw what went down and rushed downward to help them, but Laura took advantage of the distraction and froze her.

"Before I finish you, answer me this," Laura said, "Why do you insist on aiding that foul renegade?"

Autumn smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know, artificial woman?"

Laura shrieked and fired her railgun, sending Autumn into free fall.

Madoka barely held Tabane back, but she eventually succumbed to her power. She fell into her leg kick and was blown into the shrubs. Sokoto ran after Madoka and tossed her the shield, which Tabane swatted away. He caught the shield and kept running. Madoka steadied herself upright, but Tabane choke-held her.

"Should've known it would come to this," she said, "I never should've made you that IS!"

"Get off her!" Sokoto threw the shield to her head and jumped up to yanked her hair off.

Silver had recovered enough energy to regenerate her wings and fly up to catch Autumn. Laura saw her coming and fired her wire daggers on Autumn, who blew them away with her wind gusts. Laura resorted to her railgun to shoot down Silver, but Autumn caught her in time and shield her from Laura's angry thrust.

Laura landed on the grass and aimed her gun at Silver. Then, Sokoto and Madoka suddenly skidded to her feet.

"Ok, you can let go now..." he choked in her arms.

"Not now," she vehemently whispered, "Look who's above us!"

"You!" Laura shifted targets, "I told you never to show your face around me again!" She fired her railgun, but Madoka blocked it and flew against the ground. Sokoto rolled off and fell in a pile of dirt and rocks. He watched in agony as Madoka was repeatedly subjected to the thrall of the AIC. He was about to throw his shield, but he felt a harsh kick propel him against a tree. He lost all his wind as he collapsed on the ground and was carried up by Tabane.

"How's it feel to have come so close," Tabane taunted, "only to have everything scrapped before you even got started?"

Sokoto didn't know what to feel. In a way, he should have known that she had a contingency plan in place. She's the creator for crying out loud. She had him the instant the fight began. He just hung there, motionless, not even reacting to a sudden urgent aura.

"Now," Tabane pointed the grapple arrow at him, "our little secret dies here."

She fired the arrow to his face, only for a shield to come and block it at the last minute. They turned to look for where it came from. It was the Silverio Gospel, who punched Tabane into the open field, freeing Sokoto from her grasp. He slumped over onto the Gospel's shoulder.

"They got us, Silver," he whispered, "We couldn't broadcast a single thing. Now, they're gonna roll us into Hell's bowling pins."

Silver nodded. She had enough energy to manifest her shield. She gave it to him, and pointed to Autumn, who was being restrained by Tabane.

"Yeah..." Sokoto solemnly spoke, "You don't have to tell me twice." He calmed himself and took a deep breath, and charged ahead, fully prepared to die.

Silver stayed behind and pulled up a recently posted CNN article about The Origins of the White Knight Missile Crisis. She looked at the article, then at Sokoto, and shrugged her shoulders, thinking that is was best to not ask unnecessary questions. She deleted her recent memory and channeled all remaining energy into her wings. She steadied her gaze on her target. Once she has her locked, she IB'd past Sokoto and straight into Tabane.

It was a direct hit. Silver succeeded in tackling her and freeing Autumn. Sokoto caught Autumn and set her upright.

"You still in this?" he asked.

"Definitely..." Autumn reassured him, "Wish I could say the same for Shinomure..."

"Can you still partially deploy?" he dusted her off.

Autumn managed to get her moth wings out, "Yeah. I can still fight."

Suddenly, they were forced backwards by an explosion from a rocket misfire. They were skid against the mountainous rocks. They quickly recovered and saw Madoka's IS being blasted off by Laura's AIC-Railgun combination attack.

"Stay with Madoka!" Sokoto darted off, "I got Rabbit Devil!"

Autumn felt uneasy about the matchup, but she nodded and flew off to help her comrade.

Sokoto kept his eyes on Silver, who was being thrashed by Tabane. He wanted to fling his shield at her ears, but he sensed another aura trying to interrupt him. So, he flung his shield in that direction.

It was Chelsea, still alive after her scuffle with Madoka. She bent her knees and skid back on the grass, sliding under the shield as it flew over her. She ran back up and threw her hidden saber at Sokoto, who dodged it but couldn't dodge her kick. She pinned him down with her knees. Her sword came back to her, but before she could finish him off, his shield rebounded back to her. She struck it down, but missed his sudden uppercut. She was forced off him, and the two separated, facing each other with determination and confusion. She took one more look into his eyes.

"How..." she gasped, "How are they still pure..." Even with his exhaustion, his steely gaze, and the loss of his parents, those blue eyes haven't lost one single but of serenity, the exact same warm glow as when they encountered him back at the Academy. She saw them turn their leer back to Tabane and the Gospel. She didn't know what to say in the face of one who saw the good in the worst terrorist group in modern IS history. She just let him be and ran to help Laura.

Madoka's IS was nearly gone because she wound up taking every hit that was meant for the renegade, for reasons no one wants to know. The only thing left was her right arm and a lance. She took another rocket to the arm and fell back. She grasped her bleeding arm as she saw Laura standing above her, railgun pointed directly at her head.

"Now, what message should I send back to IS Academy?" Laura hissed.

"Tell them that the one that killed Ichika's parents is now dead..." Madoka held up a middle finger, "and that the hands that wielded the swords that killed his parents now masturbate to the memory..."

Laura couldn't believe her ears. It was Madoka this whole time?! She knew that something was off about her when she stayed at Ichika's house for a few months. She saw the tension within, why she was closed off to the rest of the girls.

"I was right to banish you, you bitch," Laura charged her gun to max impact.

"What, from that house of whores?" Madoka said.

That comment snapped Laura's last nerve. She screamed in bloody hatred and fired. But a giant gust threw the gun off target, instead blasting the giant trench the renegade made earlier. She looked back to see who thwarted her attempt for revenge. And in return, she got a face full of metal and a back full of dirt.

"What the..." Madoka was dumbfounded, "Anna, why..."

"Renegade shoved me over here," Autumn help Madoka to her feet, "How much fight you got?"

Madoka clenched her lance, "Plenty," and swung it behind her, right onto Chelsea's saber. She took off after, immersing in a sword fight.

Autumn sighed. Well, it was impossible to control her anyway, so she turned her attention to Laura, who now bore the impression of that familiar demon banshee.

"How...dare...you..." Laura glared at Autumn with murderous eyes.

"I think you mean, how dare I not?" Autumn ticked her off.

Laura fired her railgun, which Autumn easily dodged, and ran forward to try and rip off Autum's wings.

Sokoto caught sight of Silver just in time. He picked up the shield and flung it at Tabane, who instinctively punched it down, allowing Silver to manifest her sword and strike Tabane's opening, forcing her off. Silver flew back to his side.

"You ok?" Sokoto held her up to his shoulders. He could feel her aura waning. She just downed a fuel cell, but it wasn't much help. "Let me ride you one more time!" He said, "We can't win in here, but we can win inside the wings."

Silver weakly moved her head up to Sokoto's eyes and nodded. But as she was about to retreat-

"Hey, assbutts!" Tabane fired a gigantic laser, which Silver tackled Sokoto under to avoid injury.

Silver then retreated and deployed itself in IS mode. She then IB'd under the laser and ran straight to Tabane.

"Oh, man! This is really it!" Sokoto braced for impact as he came at Tabane, who just noticed the coming plow too little too late. He rammed her gut and bear hugged her as she tried to yank him off. He held on for dear life as he felt his life being ripped right out of his eyes, before Silver's wings finally enclosed all of them.

And it was within the feathery borders of this sub space that the decisive battle was waged. Tabane was stuck at the bottom of the space, while Sokoto sat in the cockpit, waiting for his chance to strike.

"What's with you?!" Tabane shouted as she tried to free herself from the stiffing atmosphere, "Why are you so hellbent on stealing something that wasn't even yours to begin with?!"

"Because if I hadn't heard her voice, yes I can hear things I'm weird like that," Sokoto answered in his altered voice, "she would've died. These IS things aren't just things, lady. They're living beings, just like you and pagan woman."

"How do you know that?!" Tabane responded, "That's something not even I can prove! The core's just a black box of hoopla!"

"You're not very humble, are you?" Sokoto murmured, "Even now, your aura tells me that you're trying to figure me out, whether or not I'm even human. Even though I can tell you first hand how I obtained green poop."

"You know what?! You're right!" Tabane got angry, "I am supposed to be the best there is! Not even Chifuyu, with her original IS, could beat me! And then you came along..." she mustered enough rage to shake the entire space, "I'm done playing games with you, little hero..."

"What did you..." Sokoto got mad, "You think this is a game?!"

"Hell yeah, I did," Tabane broke free of the restrained Streamline with sheer will alone, "But not anymore!"

Sokoto jumped from the cockpit. Tabane jumped from the Streamline's shoulders. They both leapt into the air with extreme ferocity. The first blow of the battle was to each other's fists. The rest of the fight was fought in slow descent, with both fighters trading blows for an agonizing five minutes. The majority of the fight was spent by Sokoto just trying not to get hit. He kept blocking, twirling, as swinging, but nothing got through. He realized that he was outmatched, that this fight was over before it started, but still he kept fighting. Until the four minute mark, where Tabane stopped holding back and withstood his uppercut. Unmoved. She swiped his hand away, flipped over, and down kicked his head. She sent him flying to the bottom surface and bouncing back to her. She kicked him again, this time smacking him against the cockpit. He bounced back and suffered her uppercut, then a hammer fist, then more bounces and attacks in rapid repetition, for thirty seconds.

He stopped bouncing after grabbing the wall following a hit. He needed to catch his breath. He felt the rest of his life vanish from his body with each passing second. Blood spilled from his brow and mouth. He hacked a few spits before wiping his mouth and steeling his gaze on Tabane once again.

"I know you're weak..." Tabane growled, "Why don't you just call it now and let me experiment on you?"

"And manipulate me...like you did...those dickholes..." Sokoto panted, then clenched his fists, "Like hell I would!" Then he slammed his feet on the surface, soaring towards Tabane one last time.

"I tried to reason with you," Tabane said as he timed her fist with his approach perfectly. She saw him coming. She ducked under and punched him in the gut. She saw him reel, cough up red. She knew it was over.

CRACK*

Or was it?

In the instant after Tabane punched him, she felt a slight tug in her hair. After she landed the decisive blow, she saw tiny pink specs of metal and wires dancing to the vision of his defeat. At that point, the enclosed space dissolved, and the wings surrounding them opened up. Then, she realized.

It wasn't his defeat at all. It was his trap. And she fell for it. The whole time, he wanted her to immerse herself in utterly destroying the renegade so deep that she would be unable to see what he was really doing. Those ears are connected to her neural network. They get crushed, and she gets a massive migraine. She covered her ears in an attempt to prevent more damage through her eardrums. Once the pain subsided, she felt a tiny tickle in her wrist and her neck. She opened her eyes to see what had happened.

It wasn't even possible, but it happened. She lost the Silver Streamline to the Silverio Gospel.

She tried to get it back, but the Gospel had already triggered the IB the instant that final hit landed. It was too far beyond her reach. She turned back at the renegade, barely conscious. She wanted to finish him off, but the headaches were back. And with them came Autumn, who caught the renegade and saved him from further beating, and Madoka, who kicked her away from his reach.

Phantom Task collided with each other on the ground, with Silver rejoining them from the back. Tabane fell down, a bit dazed at how she fell for such a simple trick. Laura and Chelsea were able to regroup with her and bring her to her feet, while the renegade could barely sit up.

"How did they..." Chelsea was awestruck by their convoluted coordinated strategy.

"It doesn't matter how!" Laura persisted, "We can still finish them right now!" She readied her railgun again.

"Oh no..." Autumn was worried, "We haven't shot out that railgun! If she fires now..."

"Well, enjoy this victory, boy," Tabane gave them the cold shoulder, "For in two seconds, you will taste bitter defeat."

Laura had enough energy for one final shot. And all things considered, Tabane only got away with a scratch on her arm, while Chelsea stood with a broken arm. But the rest of Phantom Task didn't look so good. Silver was the only one with the energy needed to bail them out, at the cost of staying behind, waiting for the mercy of her new captors. But, screw everything. It was something Silver wanted to do ever since Fairs but the dust.

Laura fired her shot. Silver expended all of her remaining energy to slam her team down with her wings, thereby ducking them under the giant missile. It went straight to the mountain. When it exploded, it literally shook the environment. A giant shock wave rocked the forest, and spread into the surrounding cities. Every building quaked in fear. Every car froze in terror. Even the cherry blossoms seemed to pause their fluttering rhythm. Every single thing in Japan turned to the center of the island, hoping to find some answer as to why the peace has been disturbed.

They need look no further than Mt Fuji. It was bleeding. For now, in buckets. Soon, in droves.

"What's happening?!" Chelsea screamed.

"I don't know!" Tabane said, "Mt Fuji was supposed to erupt in a couple years!"

"Couple what?!" Laura freaked out, "Then why's Fuji going crazy now?!"

"Ain't it a little weak?..." Autumn asked.

"That means there's a much bigger one on the way," Madoka pointed to the top and the base behind, "The air's mixing in with the magma below. Pressure's built up before today, and the vents are narrow right now. Long story short, it took in enough of the oxygen to blast a brand new vent."

"That bad?!" Autumn yelped, "So, the air is just a signal?"

"Yeah," Madoka explained, "And made worse by that earthquake a few years ago. Japan's not safe anymore! We have to go!"

"Hold up!" Autumn restrained Madoka's arm, "Go where?!"

"Anywhere!" Madoka said, "We've done our part. There's nothing left for us here."

For once, Autumn agreed with her. Ever since she arrived in Japan, seeking out new recruits for the old Phantom Task felt like walking through detention hall with a note attached to her forehead she wasn't allowed to remove. She hated the condescending gaze she received from the people around her. She wanted out so bad.

"I get first pick," she said. Madoka just nodded.

"You two are acting uncharacteristically nonchalant for a couple of terrorists!" Chelsea noticed.

"Huh?" Laura took a moment to process those words.

Then they all heard a menacing chuckle.

"All...part of... the plan..." Sokoto squeezed the words right out of his broken gut.

Tabane's team finally put two and two together.

All along, Phantom Task fought with the appearance of trying to destroy the Infinite Stratos. When in actuality, they wanted to permanently scar Japan with the memories of her misdeeds. And Laura and Tabane just accomplished that mission for them. They saw Laura blow open two vents and Tabane tattoo the biggest hole of the battle. Combined with Sokoto's trench, the damage was irreversible.

They all wrote out Chūbu's death sentence.

"Well..." Tabane stammered, "At least I sealed off your broadcast! That's right! You didn't show us nothing! You got no proof! What now, bitches?!"

Silver lifted her hand with all her might, and projected a live CNN World program:

"We're getting breaking news right now, coming to you live from London. Recently, CNN has obtained information that revealed the direct cause of the Japanese missile crisis as Tabane Shinonono, the creator of the Infinite Stratos. Images we are showing off now, they appear to be a notebook with codes from each missile system in the world and what looks like someone with rabbit ears inputting something into a computer. That computer shows lines from nearly every country in the world connected to Japan, so at the very least, it is safe to assume that this is correct information. That Tabane was the woman who hacked into every missile system in the world. Explanation is nowhere to be found-"

And another from AlJazeera:

"This is beyond disturbing, let me tell you. Woman are supposed to be the world leaders, I understand, but this? A male prison camp to fulfill lumberjack fantasies? Doesn't Japan know that they've descended to the level of men they claim to be above? Japan has always had a code of honor and a code of dishonor, even before the IS, but this is taking things too far. This makes me question whether the renegade really is all bad. This also makes me question Phantom Task's true purpose."

"I is ezdrely congfooze..." Madoka muttered.

"We sent our signal to Japanese satellites, not..." Autumn didn't have time to finish her thoughts.

Because Fuji's side was blown clean off by its own rupture. And not a moment too soon, because Tabane's own psyche was ruptured as well. Just like the multitude of magma and molten rock that burst out of Fuji, her own body was wrought with emotions waiting to burst out and into the world. That was impossible now, as the searing red wrath rained down upon the region, lava overflowed the trench, and ashes and rock bombarded the open sky, Laura, Chelsea, and Tabane just stood there, staring at the damage they were manipulated to inflict on the most sacred symbol in all of Japan, wondering...

...was this even worth it?


	3. Incapable of Learning

_Part 3: Incapable of Learning_

 **-IS ACADEMY, OFFSHORE; ONE MINUTE AFTER INITIAL ERUPTION-**

"Laura! Chelsea! Tabane!" Chifuyu screamed in the comma area, "Abort mission! Come back to the island now!"

The IS Academy staff viewed the entire fight through Tabane's and Laura's eyes. There was no denying it, no matter what the cause, it does not change anything.

They caused the volcano to erupt, and now they have to retreat. At least, that's what Chifuyu and Maya think. But they couldn't get through to their team.

"Anyone copy!" Chifuyu screamed, "End pursuit and return to the Academy!"

No response.

"You could at least tell me to piss off!" Chifuyu punched the keyboard.

"You didn't have to destroy the entire comms board..." Maya muttered.

"We need to get over there now!" Chifuyu skid to the pilots intercom station, "Do we have anyone ready to deploy?!"

"Just Houki..." Maya said, "Everyone else's units are still in repair..."

"Damn...where is she?"

In the cafeteria, living it up with Lingyin and Ichika.

"Woooooohooooooo!" Oh, Lingyin, WHYYYYYYYYYYY?! "Man, I feel the good vibes tonight!"

"Uh...sure..." Houki and Ichika were unnerved by her sudden liquor down.

"I tell you, Houki-Pouki" Lingyin threw her arms around Houki, "Any childhood friend of Ichika is a childhood friend of mine!"

"I can see myself downing a bottle or two, but you?!" Houki pulled her away. While Ichika just sat there listening in on her ramblings.

"Y'know...If it weren't for my own subordinates telling my people to flip patriarchy and matriarchy, this would be the perfect night for us! Just the three amigos!"

...or seething revelations.

"The hell?!" Houki winced, "But you're president of China! They can't just-"

"Every late night, they slip something into my tea! And you know I love a good tea," Lingyin, no, "I almost always catch it, but I got the tolerance for their conniving little tricks!"

"Tricks?" Ichika was surprised, "But they welcomed you back as a hero."

"That's only because someone said it was me who took down Phantom Task! Just because I give Squall a proper beat down, what am I supposed to say?" And she slumped to the floor and smacked the bottle on her head.

"What are they spreading in China?" Houki whispered.

"I don't want to know," Ichika stammered, "Let's get the kids and move them to a safer place."

"You won't be going anywhere," a voice cancelled out any outside interference.

"Oh no..." Houki griped, "You bust out of detention?"

"I was never in any trouble to begin with," Xingjia walked in, "I always pulled the strings. And I'm afraid you've heard too much from my blabber mouth president puppet."

Houki could feel the crazy in those eyes and hid behind Ichika, who stood ready to fight.

"Wrong choice, both of you," Xingjia deployed her wing turrets.

"Crap! If she fires now!" Houki did not want to use her IS since she saw what it could do to a city. But she may have to now that Xingjia has lost it. She deployed the Akatsubaki's twin blades.

"You still choose to defend this gelded mule?" Xingjia revved up, "Then, you will die as well."

Ichika and Houki prepared for the worst.

But before even that could happen, Lingyin suddenly propped up and threw a Canceller at Xingjia's neck and chunked a sale bottle at her face, effectively negating any tension that could have taken over.

Same time as Chifuyu and Maya arrived to find their unusual antics.

"Hahahaaaa!" Lingyin triumphantly declared, "Nothing gets past the two tailed fox girl!" She turned to Ichika and Houki and gave them two thumbs up. "Thanks for holding down the fort for me!"

"Heh, anytime, Rin!" Ichika played along.

"We did that?" Houki stammered.

"Just play along."

"Uh...moving on," Maya interrupted, "Houki, we need you to extract the team from the Suicide Forest."

"Did Mt Fuji erupt?" Houki bluntly asked.

"I'm afraid so," Maya said.

"Come back safe," Ichika grasped her hand.

"I'll be back," Houki gave him a kiss, then darted off.

"Well, that's that..." Chifuyu said, "Not much we can do about evacuation, though. They won't trust us now that the worst has happened."

"What?" Ichika said, "What's happened?"

"Somehow, Madoka and Autumn sent a signal to our satellites to broadcast something very aggravating," Chifuyu held a projector detailing the signal's path, which was going to the satellites, but then split apart, "but they couldn't get through, so they sent it all over the world. Japan's kept in the dark now. And this is what they don't know that we know they don't want us to know." She projected dozens of articles around the world about the prison camp and the origins of the Japan Missile Crisis. Ichika and Lingyin took in every detail that they saw.

"No...what are we supposed to do now?" Ichika said.

"And none of Japan knows this?" Lingyin reaffirmed.

"Most likely, we'll have to answer to the World Council about how we couldn't have known...or how we kept hidden," Maya said, "We'll need all the help we can to set everything straight and clear our names. And for that, we needed all the graduates with personal ISs."

"So, that's what I'm doing here..." Ichika said, "Couldn't you have just said that at the beginning?"

"Would either of you listen to anyone's yammering for an hourlong lecture?" Chifuyu sarcastically asked.

"Blockhead here wouldn't even do it for a billion bucks," Lingyin poked.

Just then, they heard Xingjia groan. She rubbed her head and opened her eyes to see a very disconcerted Lingyin standing above her.

"Have a good nap, Major?" She said.

"Why, yes I did..." Xingjia felt uneasy.

"Good, because as of two hours ago, you are no longer a citizen of China," Xingjia held up a copy of the executive decree, signed and stamped.

"Huh?!" Xingjia screamed, "You can't do this! What proof do you-"

Lingyin projected video of her sneaking a substance into her tea, shouting things that do not line up with the Chinese constitution, and that one outburst just a few minutes ago.

"Need I go on?" Lingyin asked, to which Xingjia just hung her head down. "Good," she said, "Now, let's go." And she dragged Xingjia out of the cafeteria.

 **-SUICIDE FOREST, MOUNT FUJI; ONE MINUTE AFTER ERUPTION-**

The volcano was raging, trying to burst its molten rock out all at once. The pilots standing at the base of the mountain have caused it to rage even worse than in 1707. And they still don't know what to do now.

Sokoto and Silver slipped into unconsciousness.

"Hey! Not now, stay awake!" Madoka knelt down and shook him, "You're kinda important to the group!"

"Silver's out cold, too," Autumn said, "We're going now!"

"No!" Laura took out her railgun and fired. Autumn flung the shield at the Missile to block, but she knew it wouldn't stop the afterblast. She huddled everyone together just when the Missile hit the shield. Everyone went flying and slid up the grass, stopping near the trench. Madoka fractured her shoulder during the skid, while Autumn jolted herself back up to face the ensuing rabbit crisis. She wakes in front of the group and held up her arms to block Tabane.

"Out of my way," Tabane said. Autumn said nothing and tried to punch her, but Tabane overpowered her and kicked her over the edge. Autumn managed to grab onto a root and delay her dip into the rising lava pits below.

Madoka saw her fall and threw her own body towards the cliff. Tabane ignored her and walked towards the motionless bodies.

Madoka landed on the edge and peeked over. She saw Autumn hanging by a thread. A root as thick as thread, because when Autumn tried to climb her self out, it snapped. Autumn lost her balance momentarily; she managed to shove her feet and hands into the soft earth. But she completely lost her cool. She hadn't felt this scared since the final battle with the IS Representative Contenders, where she was forced to take the hit. Back then, however, the Arachne could prevent death, but now? The IS was not yet lava proof, so she could die before she hit the pool. Chunks of ash pelted the entire scuffle as she tried desperately to hold on for dear life.

Tabane held up Sokoto by the hair. "How proud are you now?" She spat at his face before slamming his head down and beating the ever dying crap out of it. "YOU RUINED ME! MY GAME IS RUINED! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" She kept repeating as the fists kept pounding. Each blow was a chance for her to finally get lost in her anger. However, each blow slowly brought him back into the real world. And every time a punch landed, Silver dimmed in and out.

Autumn tried to climb up, enduring the sudden heat bursts of ash and lava. But for the second time today, the volcano shook. The ground shook, and all dirt that held her crumbled and fell to the lava. And she was going with it. She was about to let out a terrible scream when-

"Come on, woman!" Madoka reached out and grabbed her arm in time, "We've hung our lives on the clothesline enough times!" She reached out with her free arm and used her broken arm to keep herself locked onto the ground. She could feel her shoulder slowly separating from the rest of her body, but it didn't matter to her, just as long as she cannot move when it does break.

Autumn looked down at the flares jumping from the pool below. She shook it off, hoisted herself onto Madoka's arm, and began her painful ascent. It wasn't for two seconds that the ground shook again, this time opening a fourth vent right below them. The cliff collapsed. The ground shock shattered Madoka's shoulder completely, and she lost her grip. They slid.

"Forget about me!" Autumn screamed as she was losing her hold on the wall and Madoka, "Save yourself!"

"No way! You haunted me for the last time, woman!" Madoka snapped, intent on holding on to Autumn.

"Ass gasket!" Autumn yelled as the ground beneath Madoka finally gave. They both plummeted to their fiery doom. They screamed for their lives...

...and someone heard. Someone caught them before they touched the lava.

"What in blue blazes?!" Autumn jolted and looked up.

Blue, indeed. The Silverio Gospel had awoken from her unconscious slumber to give aid to her comrades one last time before she died. She carried them up, flapping her wings to gain air against the heat and rocky comets continuously hitting her. It took a while, but she finally made won grass, far away from the trench. She set them down and plopped next to them, wings still out to shield them. She took a huge risk coming back, because now that everything is running on zero energy, one hit can easily shred her irreparable. Luckily, she had already finished what she really needed to do before waking up. She saw Madoka and Autumn coughing. The air was taking a toll on them now. She crawled to their side.

"Thanks, Sil..." Autumn managed to muster enough strength to say, "We owe you..."

Silver shook her head and held out the bracelet, collar, and locket complete set. She beckoned Autumn to take it. Once the gifts were received, she waved Autumn goodbye. Autumn waved back.

Then, Silver flew out to take one for the team. One that blew her body to smithereens and her core into the lava pits.

"What..." Autumn was surprised that an IS would willingly sacrifice itself for a bunch of humans. She took that as a sign that maybe, just maybe, she can redeem herself. She could start by taking Madoka somewhere safe.

But three problems...

"AAAAAGH!" One: the renegade vs the rabbit. Tearing off the rabbit ear band and crushing it wasn't the issue. It was after Tabane recovers that they have to worry about. The renegade spent all he had taking away those ears. He was in no condition to fight now, as he too succumbed to the ashes in the air.

Two: the sidekicks.

"Laura...*COUGH*COUGH*...we have to go..." Chelsea mouthed.

"No..." Laura was forced on all fours by the thick atmosphere, "I can still...finish this..."

Chelsea can't go on, that much is clear. But Laura? Her vision has been blurred, yet her determination remained strong. She could either kill them, or cause even more damage to Mt Fuji, making it angrier, making the volcano erupt even harder.

Three: even if Phantom Task were to escape the wrath of the creator, they'll never be able to escape the wrath of the country. Or the world, for that matter. They would all have a bounty on their heads, forever running away from the limelight with nowhere to go, nothing to do. Just run. Not like that's anything new, but still...Some things they took for granted, they will wish they treasured more. Like this life for instance.

"Ugh-*COUGH*COUGH*...come in..." Laura's voice gave out, "Need...extraction...from...Sui...cide..." she collapsed alongside Chelsea.

Autumn's choice was clear. She collected Madoka and Sokoto and deployed what was left of the Shinomure's wings. She gently floated above the ground, avoiding any ground or lava that could hurt her or her IS. Her eyes were blurred as well, but she was able to breathe properly thanks to her IS's barrier converting to an air filter. But it drained her IS, so she only concentrated on the ground below. She didn't even notice someone above her flying in. She only kept up the pace just to get out.

Houki flew over the volcano, seeing firsthand the renegade's handiwork. There was a gaping hole in the mountain's side, a moat, and an exposed top, which meant that she had next to five minutes before it got worse.

"*COUGH*COUGH*COUGHUhohohhh..." Nope, it already got worse, "How did they survive in this stuff?!"

She landed at the battle site and surveyed the area. There was Chelsea and Laura, in dire need of oxygen. There was the volcano, which erupted from two vents now. But where's Tabane? She didn't have time to think as ashes plummeted towards her two fallen comrades. She unlocked her Unfolding Armor and guarded them until it was safe to pick them up.

"Dammit, Laura...Chelsea..." she whispered, "Why'd you have to go and overdo it?"

Just then, the volcano shook the ground. This time, out came everything. Houki saw the remains of the Silverio Gospel, and its core, dissolve into the lava. That made Fuji-san outright lose it. She has no time left.

"Nee-sama!" She flew through the bursting earth and flares, "Nee-sama! Where are you?!"

No sign of Tabane, and only a minute left until total devastation. Earthly debris continued to rain down, and she kept shielding her friends from harm. The Akatsubaki can't handle any more volcanic power. She was about to abandon mission until she saw her.

"Oohhhhhh...my head..."

Without her rabbit ears?

"Nee-sama!" Tabane touched down, "Are you okay?!"

"I think so..." Tabane mumbled, "The renegade's a lot stronger than I thought...ripped my damn ears off..."

"We can talk about that later!" Houki threw Tabane on her shoulder, "Right now, we gotta-"

The forest exploded. They took too long again. Houki made quick work of her abilities and hightailed it out. Through the fiery ember geysers shooting out of the ground, she was able to launch high enough to escape the blast radius of the eruption. 10,000 feet high. Chilly, but it had to be done to make sure Laura and Chelsea had some air left before descending to IS Academy once again.

"Um...Hey, Houki..." Tabane said.

"What?" Houki was too focused on bringing fresh air to her friends' lungs.

"Thanks for the save..." Tabane said sheepishly.

"Oh..." Houki blushed, "Um...you're welcome..."

Tabane yanked her shoes off and sent each big toe to Laura's and Chelsea's necks. "They'll be ok," she said, "but once we descend, they have to go to an O-Tank. Unless you wanna enjoy the stars and wait for the sunrise..."

Houki actually considered that proposition, but decided against it, "Another time. Now is too dangerous. We have to head back."

"Go that way until I say drop," Tabane pointed somewhere. And Houki followed.

There are not many moments that Tabane can muster the courage to thank someone, not even her own closest friends. So to hear that little phrase from someone so sheltered...

...like their father said, "People are only willing to learn when all is lost."

If only Tabane could invent a way for everyone to learn sooner...

 **-OPEN AREA, MOUNT FUJI; TEN MINUTES AFTER INITIAL ERUPTION-**

Finally, Autumn made it through the forest and onto a dirt road, just as her IS was depleted of everything. But her mission was not yet finished. Right when she touched down on solid ground, the core of the Silverio Gospel had completely dissolved into the lava, somehow triggering the full rage of Fuji-san. The mountaintop burst and released a huge amount of magma and ash. She scanned her immediate environment for any kind of shelter they could hide in. Funny how there was a volcano shelter a few feet away. She got a sudden morale and power boost, dragging everyone into the shelter and slamming the door sealed and locked before the lava rushed the area.

Autumn threw her comrades onto a couch and plopped on the floor. She took a minute to breathe and process the situation. She regained her senses when she realized what had happened.

She just saved two lives. Autumn, Anna Kohler, an arrogant, sadistic psychopath...gave herself, Madoka, and Sokoto, ruthless killers and mental bombs, another chance at life. And it was an IS that made it possible! An IS that saw the good in them! How in the dark and dank flames of stupiditiness is that ever even possible?!

As she strapped the accessories onto the renegade, she ran her mind through the memories to try to find the answer. From their first encounter, when a simple tease of the bodies omitted several steps and went straight to "I want to join Phantom Task NOW!" and only increased in intensity, randomness, and contact. He never gave a flying rat's ass about himself, as long as it meant everyone else has a good time. And he really tried. So hard.

Even when the team was split, he always wisecracked. He never stopped contacting them, even when they begged him to. When they were trying to bail him out, he always asked about everyone else. He always charges in no matter what, forcing the fight on him, so that they could finish it. He never stopped worrying about everyone else, even when he was lost in his antics.

She broke down in tears as the answer became clear.

"Protect him...he's our only hope..."

Autumn understood what that meant now.

"It's ok..." she grasped his and Madoka's hands, "I'm here...mommy's got you..."

 **-GOTEMBA TOWN SQUARE, SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE; TWO MINUTES AFTER INITIAL ERUPTION-**

"EMERGENCY ALERT! EMERGENCY ALERT!" A siren sounded, "ALL CITIZENS HEAD FOR THE NEAREST SHELTER! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

The clarion call. The signal to the people that all Hell has broken loose. No matter how far they run, no matter where they hide...

...it was pointless. Because they will be found eventually. The ever-burning river of judgement finds all. It found them hundreds of years ago, it will find them again.

The lava has burned down the trees and encompassed the mountain in a fiery cloak of rage. The ashes that spewed over the sacred grounds found their way to the streets and dwellings of the city folk, and began their assault on the people. A small percentage of the population found shelter in the lava-proof contraptions that levitated them into the sky, giving them firsthand witness to the calamity that ate away at the place they called home. The rest of them were at the mercy of Fuji-san. Tall urban icons easily crumbled before the wrath of Fuji-san. Trees lit up in flames, Rivers became pools of brimstone. The sky was enveloped in the fear of gray and resentment of crimson red. And that was just the eruption.

The real disaster awaited the next hour. As the lava finally made its way to the city, it dissolved everything in its path. The people who made it into the shelter were forced to watch as their world burned away. Because their lives are safe. But not the lives of the unfortunate ones, or the lives of the material possessions and trinkets they held so dear. When this is all over, nothing will be waiting for them. Where would they go? Who would they trust? How would they rebuild when there's nothing to build with? And what's the point? The safe populace could not wrap their minds around it. But maybe they didn't need to. Maybe they only needed to be reminded that they are not superior. Anything can and will happen.

 **-AKINA SPORTS BAR, GUNMA PREFECTURE; TWO HOURS AFTER INITIAL ERUPTION-**

And that's exactly the case at Mount Haruna. Ash descended on the sports bar, as the region got the order to evacuate the prefecture. They had no choice but to follow me orders and run like hell, away from this cursed place. Every woman was screaming their curses to the renegade for taking away their throne, somehow. Without thinking about whether or not it would've happened had they not been so gender-power hungry. Despite their best protests, their strong belief that they will not be affected by the renegade, several people and structures were indeed affected. Ironically, the staunchest defenders of female domination were the first casualties of the prefecture.

But one woman in particular, Kanzashi, was not at all worried. In fact, she was sipping her final martini on the rail of the bar. She was expecting this kind of outcome. Because of one coincidence that caught her attention.

 **-BEFORE ERUPTION, 23:55-**

Kanzashi was preparing the 6th Generation IS models, alone in her lab, when her monitors fizzed for a few seconds. She stopped everything and kicked her main CPU. Instead of the usual blueprints, she saw a prison camp. And a weird one at that.

"The hell is all this?..." Kanzashi whispered, walking up to the monitor and hearing Madoka's voice for the first time in a long time, narrating the broadcast.

"Sacred mountain, right," she said, "And what's Fuji gonna say when she sees this?" The monitor showed...well, "Forced ejaculation via electric stimulation...and that stuff goes into their nasty ass prison food. I'm sorry for not showing any reaction, it's just that this is all cringe. Not really anger-"

The broadcast was interrupted. Or rather, it was blocked out.

"Oh, no," Kanzashi immediately booted up her hacking software, "Not when it's getting good!" She went to work to try and restore the signal. She traced the block to a program the rewrites itself one picosecond after it is cracked. She thought of changing the destination of the broadcast, but that would involve an entirely new program to be written out in not enough time. What about defaulting the signal to a different type of code? Wait, they would track her in a heartbeat. But what if-

"Oh, shoot!" In the midst of her clacking and brain crunching, her fingers crossed and hit the wrong keys. And her pinky clacked the enter key. "Ah! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, what did I do?!" She frantically tried to figure out what happened, looking up coding history and comparing it to the program she encountered. "Let's see...I did that...huh?! Oh...well, then..."

Apparently, trying to watch the prison bait in Japan was too much of a hassle. So, apparently, she took the signal and threw it...everywhere else.

Kanzashi shut her lab down without saving anything, "No one needs to know about that little mishap..."

 **-PRESENT DAY-**

Thinking back on that moment, maybe they really did need to know. Maybe she shouldn't have kept Japan in the dark. It would have been better to take at least a snapshot of what she saw and question her coworkers about it.

Then again, it wouldn't be that much fun if she told them, would it?

She just smiled and leaned back. She threw an olive and sipped her cup, twirling the lollipop in her mouth, wondering what she should do next.


	4. Aftermath

_Part 4: Aftermath_

 **-GOVERNMENT BUILDING OBSERVATION DECK, TOKYO METROPOLIS; ONE WEEK AFTER MOUNT FUJI ERUPTION-**

A message from the Empress and the Prime Minister of Japan, despite the heavy air and heavier mood of the atmosphere:

"Seven days ago, when the renegade broke Fuji-san's spirit and erupted out most sacred symbol, we thought of nothing but revenge against the male indecencies of our country. After all, the renegade was a man, and in the past, Japan has had its fair share of abuse and commodification. So, we thought it best to return the favor to our oppressors. Thought."

"We were about to enact it as well, until we received word about a pirated broadcast sent around the world, and it displayed a male prison camp, supposedly near the site of the battle against the renegade. It showed indecent activity that even we wouldn't consider. We also received word that one of our own, Tabane Shinonono, the creator of the Infinite Stratos, was directly linked to the White Knight Missile Crisis. We want to take a moment to address these issues and put them to rest."

"Nothing could be further from the truth. We did not know about Tabane's hacking scheme to manipulate the world's missile systems. We also had no knowledge of any of the prison camp activity that occurred before the eruption. These events are purely coincidental, and acted independently by women unrelated to the government. We were aware of no such activity. We spent all of our resources on trying to apprehend the renegade."

"We are telling you this because we can't afford to look back anymore. Rather, we must focus on the future. We ask of the world to help us rebuild our beloved cities. Help us get back on track."

"And help us remember to never allow this curse to become a curse. We ask everyone who survived to continue the fight. Continue the struggle against the tyranny. And con-"

 **-NEW YORK CITY, U.S, 12:46 LOCAL TIME; TWO WEEKS AFTER MOUNT FUJI ERUPTION-**

A message that was broadcast around the world, including the UN Security Council, who called an emergency meeting as soon as they got the word about the eruption.

They played the message, and someone stopped the tape.

"So, you're telling me, Empress," the chairwoman of the First Committee rubbed her forehead, "that we should just completely disregard the fact that you have a whistleblower who just revealed...DAMMING information...and rally the world to send you money to put God knows where?"

"I don't know why we're having this kind of discussion," the Committee secretary said, "We just have to worry about the fact that the eruption is twice as bad as 1707!"

"We have to have it because this is the worst timing of events ever," the chairwoman responded, "First, the IS. Then, the Missile crisis, the Gospel, Phantom Task, the Purge, now the renegade and this. We can't ignore it anymore because the first target of all these disturbances is always Japan."

"I concur," the vice chairman said, "And we haven't even talked about our own investigation, just the suspicion that Japan is hiding something."

"And what may we be hiding, sir?" the Prime Minister demanded. The vice chairman looked a little worried before the chairwoman encouraged him to go on. He did so, using a PowerPoint.

"Well, two days after your message, we tracked all info leaked by the renegade," he said, "and not only did we manage to find the codes in the notebook matched Tabane's handwriting stroke for stroke, we also found that the prison camp at Mount Fuji was just the forerunner in a network of international prison camps privately funded by the government. To avoid total detection, the camps are disconnected from the rest of the world, meaning no internet or wireless or anything electronic."

"And why is this of any importance?" The Empress asked.

"Because the camps were funded using two percent of the income of all female employees of the National Diet Building, the Tokyo Government Building, and 17 out of the 43 prefectures," the chairwoman said.

"They acted on their own will," the Prime Minister tried to shift the blame, "We had no knowledge of this."

"Actually, I sent my vice chairman to test that theory, and he got this," the chairwoman held up a letter, which said to put more camps in virtually every district with places no one will be able to find. Compare that to an earlier letter approving the development of IS-based railways, and...well, "Prime Minister, if you wanted to go old school, you should've at least changed your handwriting."

Everyone that participated in the pursuit of the renegade, minus Xingjia, Tabane, Kanzashi, and Cecilia, was sitting in the jury section, listening to every single word of that exchange. It was a huge shocker. They were instructed to defend the Prime Minister and the Empress, and here they were finding out that those two double-crossed them.

"Both of you, back to your seats," the chairwoman shook off, "Ichika Orimura, take the stand."

The Empress and Prime Minister left the table defeated, but not before giving Ichika a menacing stare.

"What do we do now?" Lingyin squirmed.

"I don't know," Maya whispered.

"It's ok," Ichika stood up, "I got this." And he walked into the spotlight of hundreds of cameras, ready to pounce on him the instant he screws up. Chifuyu and Houki crossed their fingers hoping he'll say the right things and get this done. The moment of truth unfolded as he sat down in front of the microphone.

"Before we get started the chairwoman said, "Let me say on the outset that we are grateful to you and your comrades for continuing to risk your lives to protecting the world. And I can't help but feel that you are being pressured to follow the Empress's instructions to say a certain thing. So, until we send you back, this is just between us. Are we clear?"

"Yes, chairwoman," Ichika said.

"Given the events leading up to the battle of Fuji," the chairwoman continued, "and the renegade's unknown origins, do you think that all parties involved have contributed to the damage?"

Ichika thought for five seconds before saying, "To some extent, yes. I mean, the renegade's responsible for 95% of the damage, but the most striking example of our fault is that skirmish with Cecilia and Cecilia."

"And that was unrelated to the renegade, I assume?"

"No, no it wasn't."

"Why do you say that this is not purely the renegade's fault?"

"For the simple reason that we should've seen this coming a long time ago. If Japan is the world leader in IS technology, then it should at least be able to plug up holes in its system and development long ago."

The vice chairman raised an eyebrow, "Would that have included removing yourself from the roster of IS pilots?"

Ichika hesitated to say, but he felt he had to, "Yeah. It still does."

"So, the fact that you haven't done so," the secretary said, "must mean that there's a bigger implication of your current status. The example that stands out the most is the World Purge, when an unknown computer virus hacked into not only the IS Academy's network, but every IS network on the planet. What would you say are the chances that it would not have happened had you not been selected as a Representative Contender?"

Again, Ichika hesitated, "While I can't say for certain because I don't know who sent the virus...yeah, it's pretty moderate, 40% at most."

"I see," the secretary said, then turned to the chairwoman, "Anything else we need from him? The big stuff, we can save for Shinonono..."

"Just one more question," the vice chairman blurted, "You once said that you believe in the good of all people. You've seen how much damage the renegade caused, as well as the code word information he leaked. Would you say that there is good in him?"

The big one. Ichika had to come up with an answer that wouldn't sympathize with the renegade, but he also knows that he will be on the run just because of his background.

"Nowhere near enough to redeem him," he gave his final answer, "but, yeah. It's there."

The Committee was satisfied. "Thank you," the chairwoman said, "Back to your seat. Houki Shinonono to the stand."

Ichika went back satisfied as well. "Good luck, Houki," he whispered as he gave her the baton.

"We are so getting doxed," Laura said.

"Let's start the big one, Miss Shinonono," the chairwoman said, "From what point were you aware of your sister, Tabane's involvement with the White Knight Missile Crisis?"

"From the leaks and the world news the day after Mt Fuji," Houki answered.

"Were you kept in the dark until that day?"

"Well, I wouldn't say it was on purpose. Even before the renegade, we didn't talk about it very much. All we cared about was that it was averted and we left it at that."

"Let's move to the months leading up to the eruption," the vice chairman said, "There was an IS that the renegade stole and piloted before he stole the Silverio Gospel. This was at an unguarded compound within 10 miles of your dojo. How is it that you were not made aware of that compound?"

"I honestly have no idea," Houki ran through her memories, "The only thing I know about it was that I saw a dirt road with a sign, "Do Not Enter." I thought that it was something very volatile, and avoided it."

"Miss Shinonono," the chairwoman said, "that IS had a core coded as 000. We're still trying to verify this against the available cores and information, so it's possible that it could be just another core. But if it's not, and it does turn out to be an authentic 000, what does this say about the IS in general?"

"It says too much about the IS," Houki said, "And I'm not sure we can figure out what that is. Could my sister have found it in outer space? I don't know. What I do know is that the world is desperately trying to get ahead of Japan now, and as pointed out by the Empress, we run a huge risk of collapse if it gets too intense."

"Speaking of the Empress, you have heard her testimony. But she has not yet fully commented on the prison camps as relating to the current crisis. You don't have to comment on it either, but if you co-"

"Oh, I have so much to say," Houki stopped them, seizing the opportunity to let loose, "but I'll just sum it up in one sentence. I wanna hock a loogie every time I see it, and I will never understand why those camps have to exist in the first place."

"But what can you say now that Chūbu region has been virtually reduced to nothing?" the secretary asked.

"I think that we do need the aid from other countries," Houki said, "The renegade destroyed the Academy, but we had the resources to restore and renovate it, only made possible by international help. And..." she inhaled, preparing for the beloved, "...let me go on record saying that we have manpower and womanpower cooperating with each other, and that was the only way we stood a chance against the renegade."

"We'll get more details from your comrades, but thank you for that," the chairwoman said, "You may sit down. Chifuyu Orimura, take the stand."

Houki went back to the pews.

"That was really bold, even for you," Chifuyu passed by.

"It had to be done," Houki whispered.

"Wanna hock a loogie..." Clarissa mocked, "Really?"

"You laughed too," Houki snapped.

The Empress and Prime Minister sat back and watched as their plan for covering up their flaws...well, it fell apart when the Committee showed the documents and letters, but the people they told to defend them strayed from the plan. The others gave their testimonies to the chaos surrounding the renegade and the faults in the current IS tech systems. Occasionally, they related to Madoka, Autumn, Squall, and the incident with Xingjia. Together, they amounted to:

Even though the renegade is the one responsible for the disaster, everyone else made it possible. No one takes the whole blame; everyone shares it.

Finally, the hearing had concluded. Everyone left the tower still dazed, but confident that they said everything they needed to say.

Except the Empress and Prime Minister.

"I still can't believe Xingjia was able to buy some of those camps in the first place," Lingyin said, "where'd she even pull all that money from?"

"The magical asses of everyone she extorted, I'll bet," Chifuyu said.

"At least the world will bring some sense of mind now..." Chelsea rubbed her head, exhausted.

"A lot of good that will do," the Prime Minister invaded the group's personal space, "You had one job. And you failed. All because you let him get to your head."

"Damn right," Chifuyu put her hands up and stretched, "If he weren't here, I would've lied and said you detonated Mt Fuji, or something like that."

"Ugh! How dare you?!" The Prime Minister shrieked, "We warned you about this!"

"Hey, I was prepared to die long ago," Chifuyu countered, "What's taking you so long? Got an orgy party planned or something?"

"You will pay for this," the Prime Minister and the Empress left in their limo to the airport.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it means," Chelsea said.

"Ok," Chifuyu walked towards a bar, "I won't tell you." But she cracked a smile when she heard Chelsea freak out.

"Simmer down, lady," Lingyin swatted Chelsea's cheek, "We can handle this. We almost died twice before, after all."

"But we still have to warn them!" Chelsea looked around and noticed that she and Lingyin were the only ones at the entrance. "Um, where is them?"

Lingyin kicked a door down to reveal the rest of the group spewing out answers to paparazzi. "Ruining their characters and just saying whatever, making the tabloids veeeeeeeeeery satisfied," she flapped her hand towards Houki, who lost the most cool of out everyone in the entire state.

"Can't Miss Orimura calm them down?" Chelsea freaked out again, and lost all of her cool when Lingyin pointed her thumb to Chifuyu threw her cool at another drunk lady. Chelsea joined the fray to separate them.

"I am so glad I ordered a two week stay for us," Lingyin shrugged it off and made for the Hard Rock Cafe.

 **-JOHN F. KENNEDY INT'L AIRPORT, 15:22-**

The Empress and Prime Minister took off towards their home. They were still reeling from the fact that nothing went as planned. Everything could've been over by now. But the renegade...just couldn't seem to leave their minds.

"It's not over, Empress," the Prime Minister said, "We can still bring the male ruckus to its knees."

"And risk retribution from the entire world?" The Empress questioned, "Surely you wish to survive with something left..."

"We had everything planned...what makes you say that?"

"Think about it...if it were a woman, how would you respond?"

"I would say that is the most preposterous thing ever said! There's absolutely no way that it would happen!"

"But if it did..."

"...Then I would've dealt with her worse than the renegade. She is blind to the truth."

"I see...perhaps the only problem with the world is the world?"

"That is exactly why we have to sway them. We are the forerunners of the Infinite Stratos. We must lead the world."

If...only...

While they left to prepare for their final plan, the pilots wasted two weeks fooling around in New York. Their experience in America was a rather surreal one, in that they lived it up. Despite Japan being in the danger zone, everyone forgot about it for one week, opting instead to lure the paparazzi into tracking their exploits. Including drinking, surprisingly good and horrid karaoke, late night traffic jams, AN EXHIBITION MATCH DEAR GOD, interviews at Times Square Studios double dear God, making a beach of a port triple dear God, goofy impromptu fashion shows quadrunipple dear God, etc.

 **-TIMES SQUARE, 21:11-**

All culminating in a final night of jamboree and high spirits at the Knickerbocker. Everyone slammed their glasses above the coffe table, gave one last "WOOF*INGHOO!", and toasted to their biggest...sanity comeback of all time.

"Man, I never felt so aliiiiiiiiiiive!" Maya drank too much, "Come on, who wants to dance?!"

"Let me see your raise, then!" Laura removed her contacts, "I'll demonstrate why I'm an officer of the German Army!" And initiated a bottleless vodka fight.

"What'd I tell you?" Lingyin slouched on Chelsea's lap, "Ruining their characters..."

"This is exactly why I drink champagne," Chelsea was holding back her laughter.

"One guy with a bunch of girls here," Ichika slammed his foot on the table, "You do realize that I'm gonna call the shots in a few seconds, right?"

"Oh, posh," Houki cuddled to his neck, "Let's just enjoy the night, shall we?" And dragged him into the holy land.

"Hey, I want some of that!" Maya stopped and joined them.

"Don't take you eyes off the enemy!" Laura escalated the situation too quickly.

Lingyin, Chelsea, Chifuyu and Clarissa just...looked.

"What was that comment about an orgy party, bartender?" Clarissa joked.

"Shaddup," Chifuyu prepared a heavy one, "Chelsea alreadymade me eat my words, ok?"

Chelsea laughed.

"Hey, did Ichika drink at all during his life?" Lingyin asked.

"No, why?" Chifuyu was pouring for Clarissa when she saw the inconceivable, "Well...I almost feel sorry for him."

"Why's that?"

"I plan to make him lug everything back to the airport," Chifuyu grinned, "Poor kids gonna go to sleep throwing out his pelvis."

They all laughed as they spent the night toasting to their own lives while Ichika...

 **-PACIFIC OCEAN, MIDFLIGHT BOUND FOR CHINA-**

...paid the price for not sparing his energy, "I honestly thought you were joking..."

"You're about to have a wife," Chifuyu winked, "You need to be twice as you as you are now."

"Why me, though..." Ichika grimaced as he turned his head to scan the rest of the crew.

Houki and Lingyin were asleep, Laura was in extreme pain, and Maya was fired earlier this morning. Clarissa was comforting Laura, who kept saying that it was a mistake on several accounts. Chelsea was just enjoying her music.

"Hey, Chi-nee..." Ichika nervously asked, "You really think I'm a better man?"

"Pbbtt...I'd say you're the same thick-headed dunce who was too stupid to say no to a fight if any lives are on the line..." Chifuyu reflected back on how he went out to fight against the renegade, despite everyone telling him no, "So, yeah. I'd say you've become quite a man now."

Ichika blushed a bit. It's been a long time since she complemented him like that. "Thanks..."

"Nope," Chifuyu turned away, "As a proper thank you, I expect three times the you from now on."

"Uy..." Ichika was about to lay back when a notification popped on everyone's monitors. The group tapped the notification, which led them to a live news cast from Times Square.

And to their WTFFFFFIGO moment.

The United Nations have passed a series of binding resolutions two nights ago, none of which received any vetoes by the permanent members:

By a 9-6 vote, deny all non-charitable aid to Japan;

By a unanimous vote, establish a task force to hunt down Phantom Task and bring them to a fair trial;

By a 10-5 vote, place sanctions restricting all international trade on goods until Japan ensures all genders on equal grounds;

By a 10-5 vote, send out another task force to investigate further into Japan's woman-centric politics;

By a unanimous vote, the worst of them:

From the moment of the passing of the resolution onwards, should anything be suspected to have happened, be currently happening, or soon happen, to those who took part in the pursuit of the renegade, or their immediate and extended family members, prior to the eruption of Mt Fuji as a result of retaliation against the preceding resolutions, it will be treated and formally recognized as an act of war.

One which, under the Alaska Treaty, anyone can respond to.

 **-NATIONAL DIET BUILDING; TOKYO METROPOLIS-**

That meant that the Empress and Prime Minister's plans were completely shut down.

"In what possible universe does this make sense?!" the Prime Minister screamed, "They are supposed to sympathize with us!"

"They want our research and our cores, plain and simple!" One politician blared out.

"What do we do now?!" Another asked.

The Prime Minister ran through all possibilities and outcomes. If she tried to goad them into leaving Japan forever, that will reek of retaliation, disguised as bribery. If they try to hide or destroy all their conspiracy plans, they would only buy them a few months before someone eventually fills the gaps in info. And of course, there was the option they were going to do, brand them as traitors, but with pov broadcasting a requirement, it will cost them far more to cover it up.

The entire building looked through all of their options. But no matter what the came up with, it all led to one particularly haunting conclusion:

The renegade is still out there. Not even the strongest women in the entire world could bring him down. If they try anything, he'll be back to finish what he started.

So, they were reduced to two options: live under the constant lights of the world, or die with their dignity...and the rest of their country.

"We have no choice..." the Empress hung her head low, "We must surrender..."

The entire building cannot believe what they've heard. Anything but surrender. There had to be something they could do. There was always something to do.

And they knew, right then and there, it resulted in two bombs one time. An earthquake another time. Now, this.

The Prime Minister agreed. At one point, she had read Akame ga Kill three times. Never had its relevance been more prominent until now. Lest she, or the Empress, become disembodied in public, they would be wise to follow the rules set forth by the world.

The rest of Japan heard the news. Right away, some were denying everything that happened. Some fled the country. Everyone else was broken. They had so many questions, none of which will be answered the way they wanted. They strongly believed that women were the future of the world. They still believed that. The only thing to brace for now, is the future their belief will bring.

Well, they taunted men for being over-privileged. Now, they're about to find out what a price to pay for privilege.

 **-BEIJING INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 18:33 LOCAL TIME-**

The group was still saying their temporary goodbyes. Lingyin was greeted by her Presidential entourage as the group split.

"Well," Ichika said, "Looks like we won't be seeing each other again for a long time."

"We have ways of keeping in touch with each other," Houki said.

"Don't remind me..." Laura was still rubbing her crotch.

"Captain and I have withdrawn our forces the instant Tabane entered the battle," Clarissa said, "We have a lot to do since the renegade is still out there."

"And I'm going back to England to straighten things out with Cecilia," Chelsea said, "We parted on a sour note. Now that things have somewhat settled down, maybe she'll listen."

"And I have enough to deal with as is," Lingyin peeked at her secretary, who was holding a giant, overstuffed notebook, "What are you guys gonna do?"

"We have a ton of recovery work to do," Chifuyu said, "I'm just mad it took the renegade and the UN to finally open the Prime Minister's eyes." And the whole group talked smack at her. "Just saying!" She quipped.

"Japan's in a state of emergency, and the only help we're getting is from charities," Houki said, "They'll need our help, whether they like it or not."

"Seeing as how we trashed our own reputations," Maya said embarrassingly, "yeah, they're stuck with us." Everyone except Chifuyu and Lingyin groaned.

"Anyway!" Lingyin clapped her hands.

"Hey, Rin," Houki asked, "When you said that any childhood friend of-"

"I meant every word," Lingyin covered Houki's mouth, "Now, please don't embarrass me with them."

"Sure..."

"Besides, I've seen what happens when you hold a grudge...not fun. It's a hell of a lot more easier to let go."

"Ohhhh..."

"Ok, people!" Chifuyu signaled, "Time to split!"

"Right," Laura said, "It's been an honor fighting with you all again. So, I shall keep in touch with you all."

"Same here," Chelsea said, "Well, I should be going! Ciao!" And she was the first to receive a warm reception when she left for her assigned gate.

"I should go as well," Laura said, "Let's go, Clarissa."

"Yes, Captain," Clarissa said, "Goodbye to you!" And they left with warm byes as well.

"So, when are you guys gonna have your wedding?" Lingyin asked.

"Probably when the whole volcano noise blows over," Ichika said.

"And then another noise drowns it out," Chifuyu booked his head.

"Let me know, and I'll have one set up for you guys in Tianamen Square," Lingyin hugged her friends and just shook Chifuyu's hand. "Not at all how I imagined our reunion."

"It happens," Chifuyu said, "but we got the beat of it, so I ain't complaining."

"Likewise," Lingyin darted off to rejoin her home team, "See y'all around the bend!"

The remainder of the group waved their goodbyes as well. And left on their final flight home.

 **-MIDFLIGHT, BOUND FOR HOKKAIDO-**

"So. you finally made your decision?" Houki couldn't resist.

"To be honest, I made it a long time ago," Ichika mused, "but I had to wait until the right time to say it."

"When would be the right time?"

"Now, I guess?" Ichika dug into his seat and scrapped around his pockets for the ring he kept since they were called. He gave it to her through the elbow seat. Dammit, and it's a 24K, too...

Houki stuttered. She thought he played it all well. The beautiful gem snuck through the dirtiest, dankest filth the world could throw at it... and it still managed to keep its glow. A true testament to survival.

"So, whaddaya say?" Oh, god, "Once this whole Fuji mess blows over, will you marry me?" SQUEEEEEEEEEEE

Houki's face turned beet red. She had envisioned this moment...under the fireworks, not in the middle of a flight, but still. This was the defining moment for her.

And yet, all that came out was an extremely high-pitched "O...okay..."

That was all Ichika needed. He smiled and slid the ring on her finger. Houki slid her head on his shoulder, staring at the ring with warm eyes. They slept through the rest of the flight, brimming with a comforting aura.

"About time, blockhead," Chifuyu said, while snapping a hidden shot of Maya writing in her diary how unforgivably ass the proposal was, "And that's why I fired her..."


	5. Just Keep Swimming

_Part 5: Just Keep Swimming_

 **-?; TEN DAYS AFTER ERUPTION-**

Sokoto was having a weird dream. He was lying on a reflective pool inch deep, but he was never wet. He stared at the gentle clouds fluttering across the clear blue sky in deep contemplation. He wondered about the events of the past week, from the moment he allowed his anger to take control, to the moment Fuji-san wept. He looked at his wrist. Silvia was back with him. Yet, she remained unresponsive, as if she's caught in a deep sleep, unable to hear her friends from the other side. He tried so hard to get her back too. And it cost him his new mother. Who else paid the price? He really wanted to cry again. But then, he felt someone stroking his hair. It was a blonde woman, wearing a blazer, gently shushing his tears back into the dark void for another day. She opened her eyes.

"There we go..." she said, "Did that feel better?"

He was very confused, but as usual, he just went with it, "A little bit..."

She smiled, "Glad you're doing alright."

"Um...who are you?"

"Just call me Natasha."

"Natasha?" He had never heard that name before, for some reason, "What kind of name is that?"

"Not a Japanese name, I can tell you that much."

"Huh..." now, he was really confused.

"You don't know what you're doing here, do you?"

"Am I dead?..."

"No! No, no...We're just resting for a bit, that's all."

"Uh...huh..."

"Tell me...why do you fight?"

"I...don't know. I thought it was just to survive, but now I'm finding out about men being abused, women being dicks...except for that one time these three guys bullied a woman so hard, she...killed herself..."

"And in return, you killed them..."

"Yeah...how'd you find that out?"

"Call it intuition."

"Euch...I saw a mother hugging her only son, sharing the warmth...I never wanted a mother, but I wanted to protect that image...but that prison camp, man...the son got axed by those freaks..."

"So you fight for that image...you don't wanna see anyone else ripped away from their family..."

"I guess...but I don't know anymore..."

"Did your new family know?"

"Yeah...I don't know if they got the idea, though..."

"Hahhhh...what a dunce, you are..."

"What are you talking about?"

"You knew that Squall, Madoka, and Autumn were killers, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And they knew you're a killer too, right?"

"What are you getting at, lady..."

"Well, I caught sight of something...shocking."

All of a sudden, the water turned into lava. Sokoto flinched and wailed. Natasha laughed because he was acting like he was burning up, but he wasn't. A rock fell and bonked his head, snapping him out of his fit and luring his eyes upward. A cliff, that endured a massive explosion from up top, was collapsing over the raging river of lava. Autumn was blown off, but she managed to catch herself on a small root sticking out of the cliff's walls. She was doing everything she could to gather footing. But another shockwave collapsed the surface, making her slip off. Just when she was about to fall, Madoka caught her. Autumn noticed that it wasn't enough to save her, so she begged Madoka to run away and leave her. Madoka refused because she had enough regrets on her conscience. She'd rather die a free woman than live with another life on her hands. And so, they fell together.

"M! Autumn! NO!" Without thinking, Sokoto ran to catch them, but he wasn't going to make it. When they were about to touch the lava, he threw himself out to catch them, and splashed down just short of saving them.

"No...not again..." he slowly propped himself on all fours, "Do I gotta go this aga-" He saw a shadow of an angel encompass the entire pool and looked up.

Silver had awoken from temporary slumber and rescued them. She carried them to safety, and a few seconds later lost her core to the pits. It splashed down where Sokoto stood and slowly dissolved into the earth.

Sokoto had no idea what an impact he made on them until now. And all he did was fire up the authorities and sent Japan into overheat. Then, he remembered. He told Autumn to get Laura away from Madoka. How did constant yapping lead to Sokoto saving Autumn saving Madoka saving Autumn saved by Silver?

"Did that look like the image in your head?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah...a lot..." Sokoto whispered, "How did..."

Natasha put her hand on his shoulder, "Let's just say..." The environment slowly reverted to the reflecting pool, "...that a certain boy wanted revenge on the world because he got tired of losing his family over and over again. And a few...warriors, so to speak, shared that same sentiment. So, he thought of banding together with these warriors to start a family of their own. And the rest is history."

Quite the invasion of the mind, this Natasha girl pulled off. Not even Sokoto thought the word "destiny" and "fate" meant anything in this crazy world. Nor did he think that the cores of any Infinite Stratos would be living breathing beings, were it not for that sensation he felt months ago. And now, he found out that he's part of a much bigger picture, as if the Infinite Stratos knew it would get this bad and called on him to save them.

He buried his face in her bosom and let the tears loose. His mind couldn't bear how many families the world ripped apart, human and IS. He got lucky. Madoka, Autumn, and Silvia were able to escape from a bad future. Squall and Silver were spared from further suffering. How many more are there?

"There, there," Natasha gently felt his hair, "It's ok...it'll be ok..." Sokoto looked up at her with eyes that could make the Prime Minister skip a couple heartbeats. "I didn't mean to make you break down," she said, "I just wanted to let you know what you're gonna be up against. You don't have to worry about a thing. Not as long as you remember you're not alone." The world around them slowly began to dissolve. "You don't have to be anything other than who you are, just as long as you remember why you fight." The world, and Natasha, slowly disappeared.

"But what do I do if I do forget?" Sokoto asked last minute.

"Endure...you only need endure..." was the last thing he heard before everything went black. He looked around for something she could've left behind. Nothing. He was all alone. What does he have to go on now? Then, he felt something strange, something he never got softly beating his chest. He held it in front of him.

It was the locket he saw Squall give to Silver before she died. It had scraps of a burnt picture, plus a name crumpled onto a piece of paper.

"Who the hell is..." Sokoto was suddenly blinded by the locket's shimmering glow.

 **-HIDDEN VOLCANO SHELTER, NEAR MOUNT FUJI-**

When the glow subsided, he found himself in a small metal room that looked no different than a studio apartment. Only thing that was different was the source of light: a tiny lava lamp on a coffee table.

Wait...why is Autumn cooking? And why's Madoka in a blanket cocoon? And why does it feel so hot in here? AND WHY THE F*** IS EVERYBODY IN THEIR UNDERWEAR?

"Um...Autumn?" He was hesitant to ask.

"Not now," she just set the...table... "Wake M up and gather for mealtime." They went to Hell. There's no other explanation.

He just shut it out and went to the bedroom. Same conditions, so why'd Madoka wrap herself up?

"Hey, M..." he said, "Dinner's ready. Time to get outta the-"

A demonic figure with ominous eyes emerged from the cocoon and cracked its head at Sokoto.

"THE GRIMM OF DEATH TAKES ADDERALL!" He screamed.

Thirty minutes later, the trio was eating an unusually tasty meal, the only steak and vegetable combo for a hundred miles. They knew what it meant. But no one had the courage to say it. Probably because the scene was reminiscent of a familiar scene back in Shibuya.

They just ate. Five minutes in, Sokoto broke the ice, "How long was I out?"

"Ten days seven hours," Madoka said, "I was out for sixty four hours."

"HUH?!"

"I have more experience with comas, that's why I woke up early," Madoka glared at the air complex, "Damn thing over there's a bitch to fix. Clean and acool air my ass..."

"Well..."

"Save it," Autumn said, "We'll need our psyches intact for next week..."

"What's next week?" Sokoto asked.

"That's when the air quality is safe for us to breathe," she answered, "and when we get out of the country."

"Wait, what?!" He shouted, "Why?!"

"If our most recent stunt is anything to go by," Autumn turned on the TV.

"Phantom Task and the renegade are still at large for causing the eruption of Mt. Fuji," it's the morning news, "The eruption has affected the regions of Kansai and Kantō, and completely devastated Chūbu, displacing 1.2 million women and inflicting upwards to 10 billion of damages. Authorities are still awaiting any information pertaining to-" TV off.

"Should be obvious at this point," Autumn finished her meal, "We've done what we needed to do here."

She left the other two to their meals. Madoka kept her eyes down as she ate. Sokoto thought about the dream he had. If that dream was representative of how everyone survived the night...

"You saved Autumn that night?" he asked her. And he got a face full of plate and leotard.

"I'm fixing that AC thing..." she angry stormed off to the other side of the room.

Well, she sounded angry, but she really wasn't. He could feel a warm aura emitting from her body.

Autumn saw it in her eyes too. She was actually grateful to him for changing her outlook and recognizing the good that she did. And she intended to force that gratitude to the surface. "What?" she noticed that the room was a little too quiet, "No retorts today?"

"No..." he said, "I do all that when everything feels right in the world...now it's all a giant mess...and that weird dream I had..."

"What's in it?"

"Something about never giving up and changing people's lives," he said, "I got out lucky, but I wanted to share my luck with everyone...and she gave me her blessing..."

"Who's she?"

"She said her name was Natasha."

Madoka froze. Natasha? As in Natasha Fairs? As in the previous pilot of the Silverio Gospel?! AS IN HE LITERALLY TALKED WITH HER?! THIS! KID! AIN'T! NORMAL!

"Bedroom..." she commanded.

"Uh..." Sokoto didn't know what to say. Or have time to say. He was conked out with a wrench and dragged to the bedroom. The door slammed and locked shut.

Autumn dulled her eyes now that the spectacle was over. She knew Madoka would snap, but not this bad. Then again, with all the crap that they put themselves through, it wasn't that hard to reach the breaking point. She looked at the air complex and threw a coffee mug at it. The complex made a harsh gutting sound before bellowing with the arctic wind. "The air's back on! You can sad rage sex out here now!"

Sokoto was thrown against the bed. He still has not yet fully recovered from the fight against Tabane. Every hit felt like a needle prodding his spine. He was absolutely helpless against the aura jungle that was M.

"Where do you get off?" Madoka threw a book at him, "Where did you learn to keep mouthing off like that?!"

"What are you talking about?" Sokoto winced with every word he forced out.

"SHUT UP!" Madoka smacked him with a pan and threw him on the floor, "Every say I had to drag your sorry ass all over..." She punched "EVERY! SINGLE! TIME!" She suddenly stopped midway.

Sokoto opened his eyes and looked at why the pummeling suddenly stopped. He saw Madoka crying. He saw her cry before, but this was the first time he saw her unloading her emotional refuse up close. It's the first time he made eye contact with her as well. They were so into the moment, that he didn't feel her hand stroking his cheek.

"You couldn't stop the stupid for one f***ing day..." she sobbed, "Or the carrying...or the rescue...or the f***ing funny talking...I even fell for when you made yourself the bait...when you talked about living life without thinking about the people..." she yanked him up, "IT WAS YOU THIS WHOLE TIME! YOU SHOVED ME INTO A NEW WORLD! YOU MADE ME NOT WANNA SUICIDE MY OWN FACE ANYMORE! YOU MADE ME CARE ABOUT...about..." her voice quivered, "...about you..."

Sokoto said nothing. He was right. And he could tell that Autumn felt the same way, only far more straightforward than Madoka. He did a massive number on all of them. Maybe he can redeem them.

But first, he has to redeem himself against Madoka's surprise minute-long French kiss attack.

"No..." she ran her mouth through his entire body, "it's not enough..."

"Hey...it's..." Sokoto felt a weird sensation from all nerves, probably because he hadn't fully recovered yet, but he's extra sensitive, "Stop...can't..."

"No..." Madoka slammed his back against her chest and whispered in his ear, "You did this to me...You're not going anywhere until you take full responsibility for what you've done..."

 **-SIX HOURS LATER-**

Autumn somehow managed to sleep through the bonanza. She only woke up because the noise stopped for ten minutes.

"Uh...hhhhhhh..." Autumn wiped the drool off her mouth and stretched, "I gotta get me more of those beauty naps..." She glanced at the clock, "Wow...crazy libido..." She went in the bedroom and surveyed the damage.

To her amazement, only the bed sheets and carpet suffered any damage, limited only to liquids and scratches. Everything else never moved. She tiptoed inside to find Madoka and Sokoto.

They were in a corner, in each other's arms, sleeping midway through another session. Autumn retrieved the blanket and wrapped them up, snuggling them together under even more warmth. For some reason, seeing them together reminded her of the time she first rescued the renegade. Seeing him squirm as she pressed her body against his face...same situation here, except she can see it unfold without having to be there. She gave them a kiss on the forehead and made her way out-

"Wait..."

Autumn stopped short of the door and turned around. Madoka woke up. And she was a mess.

"He's a stubborn one..." she still wept, cuddling the sleeping Sokoto, "He still won't take responsibility for what he did to us..."

Autumn saw how utterly broken Madoka was and compared it to how peaceful Sokoto looked. And that got her in the mood.

"Is that so?" She walked over to join the camaraderie, "Then, that calls for punishment..." She hugged Madoka from her back and gently stroked his neck to wake him up.

 **-THREE WEEKS AFTER ERUPTION-**

After some intense family bonding, and the news saying that it was safe to begin the first phase of restoration, the trio shut down the shelter and prepared to leave.

"Pack light, everyone," Autumn said, "We're not coming back for a long time."

Sokoto and Madoka followed suit. But this time was bittersweet because they actually made memories here. Madoka especially, because she tried to bond with Ichika and Houki before everything went haywire. Even now, she still can't get Dory's annoying cheer out of her head. But it's for the best.

"You guys ready?" Autumn asked. Madoka nodded.

"Hang on," Sokoto interrupted, "Silvia's not waking up, so I can't get that air cleaning barrier thing."

"But we can" Autumn said, "Just stay near one of us..."

"Ok..."

"Anything else?" No answer. "Then, time off."

She deactivated the lava lamp and led the group out.

They knew it would be bad, but two feet of ash bad? This was like if all of Hokkaido's snow for the year got rolled into three weeks. And there was more to fall in the bleak sky. It already did its work on the greenery and the trees. It already collapsed hundreds of skyscrapers and landmarks. It already created sinkholes. What was left?

They just kept going, trudging through the sludge and the burnt bark. They pushed past the bare, burning trees and the now peaceful Suicide Forest. Then, it was a long, aching road to Nagoya Port. Throughout the walk, they saw the results of their greatest work ever. They managed to destroy an entire bullet train station, not to mention disrupt every single network that connected to the region. Thousands of cars crashed into one another, even more into other buildings, during the eruption, and still no one bothered to clean up. The shock of the eruption somehow managed to reduce five cities to complete shambles; towers tilted onto each other, most of them collapsing to ground zero before their eyes. They remembered the news saying something about 1.2 million lives displaced. Whoever anchored that report got it mixed up, because a lot more than that thought Tabane would bring down the renegade, and paid dearly. Those dead bodies were right there for their pickpocketting enjoyment. Once in a while they would spot some relief workers in the middle of a massive operation. They wanted to just walk by...Madoka and Autumn did, but Sokoto dropped everything to lend a helping hand. Madoka and Autumn followed under the guise of making sure nothing bad happened. But in reality, they felt for them. They knew what it was like to lose everything. And yet here they were, trying to alleviate the same pain they inflicted upon the country.

 **-ABANDONED RESTAURANT, YAMANASHI PREFECTURE; TWENTY-SIX DAYS AFTER THE ERUPTION-**

They found a bit of solace stopping to rest every night under the ash. They would always wind up hugging each other every time they slept, as if in a last ditch effort to generate some kind of warmth in their cold paradise. This night was no different. For two hours hey scavenged the area for any semblance of edible food. They didn't find much, so they made a simple meal and ate together in the dark, accompanied only by a cracked TV.

They ate slowly to absorb the atmosphere of the disaster, eyes down, no words. Ten minutes into dinner, Sokoto said something unusual, "I've been thinking...people keep saying Phantom Task like we're still Phantom Task...what does that mean?"

Madoka and Autumn glanced over at him and went back to their food. They haven't even bothered since their failed attack on the Third Mondo Grosso.

"Well, if we ain't got a meaning...why don't we give it meaning?" he said.

"What are you talking about?" Autumn asked.

"Well, I saw that thing with the prison camps and that Missile crisis..." he explained, "and it somehow got out to the whole world. That means someone out there's actually trying to help us in our weird, murdery quest. So, I thought...why don't we do more of that?"

"We could, if we weren't the center of the world right now..." Madoka said, "How big a bounty do you think is on our heads?"

"Millions upon millions of USD?" Autumn said, "Besides, who'd want to help us?"

Sokoto sat silently and stared at the night sky, looking for an answer to everything. He peeked at his collar and bracelet, still emotionless thanks to Tabane's handiwork. He opened his locket and checked its puzzling contents once more.

"What's in that thing anyway?" Autumn jolted him into dropping the locket and letting the name flutter into view of the TV's glow.

"Why did Squall have that?" Autumn gasped.

Then a louder than normal intro keyed everyone to the breaking news report. It first began with updates on the situation in Chūbu. Next, it moved on to updates about the leaks of the prison camp and the Missile Crisis. And then, the big one. The UN resolutions. Each one listed, with no rejection to any of them.

Finally, reaction from the public.

"How do you tolerate this extreme public disrespect for Japan?!"

"While I am agitated for the UN banning Japan from the hunt for the renegade, I honestly do not understand the harsh reception towards the other resolutions."

"What are you saying?! Are you implying that it is better for us to suffer like this?!"

"If we are hypocritical as you, then yes. The prison camp network, which you have somehow kept hidden from me, is grounds alone for this type of retribution-"

Autumn fainted.

Madoka flipped the table, ruining their only meal for the day, "CHLOE CHRONICLE?! DID CHLOE CHRONICLE REALLY JUST SAY THAT?!"

"Who's Chloe?" Sokoto asked.

"WHO THE F*** IS-oh, you dunderhead!" Madoka grabbed him and throttled him, "She's Tabane's lackey! She has the Kurukagi IS embedded in her genetic code! She can trap us in LaLa Land for eternity, just by opening her eyes!" She threw him aside. He was caught by someone, but Madoka paid no mind to him, "And there she is! Basically flipping the biggest middle finger you ever done seen! WHO TOLD YOU THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA, ASSHOLE?!"

Sokoto recognized his catcher from the TV, "Should I..."

She just shushed him and dragged him away from the boiling habanero. She wanted to enjoy this moment.

Because it just got longer. As soon as the interview was done, the news switched to other viewpoints across the world. They somewhat echoed Chloe's thoughts. But for the most part, they saw it as a rebellion against the what in the holy mother of ass. No one seemed to unify with one central ideal. The only thing they had in common was that the mere invention of the IS caused irreversible problems. And their governments are either refusing to address those issues, or incapable of solving them. They needed help.

Madoka regained her composure after the program went to commercial break, "My god...we turned the whole world upside down..."

Autumn woke up in time to scare Madoka witless, "In all honesty, what did you expect?"

Meanwhile, in a grass field...on a picnic...

"Uh...wanna tell how you're doing that with your eyes?..." Thank you, Sokoto...

"If I told you, you would faint from the sheer number of big words," the woman said, "Tea?"

"Uh, sure..." Sokoto sipped the cup, but he couldn't take his eyes off hers. Jet black and elegant gold.

"I am curious about your eyes as well," she suddenly spooked him. He hissed and propped himself on all fours. She gently touched his ear, then swayed his hair. "Your eyes...full of wonder..."

"Uhhhhhhh..."

"Tell me...how do your eyes stay pure despite all that's happened?"

"The what now?..."

"Um..." she realized he doesn't think that deep, and withdrew her hand, "It's nothing..."

"What's wrong with your eyes?" He said, "They're pretty...pretty the way they are..."

"I wish..." she closed her eyes and defantasized the environment. They were back in the destroyed city, "If you had known exactly how I was made this way, you would feel differently..."

"I've already seen the worst the world has to offer from last month alone," he retorted, "I wouldn't feel any different."

"What makes you say that?"

"Gee, I...maybe...Because I see all life, not just a select group. No matter what I do, no matter what's done to me, I can feel the pain. We all have it, some more so than others, but we are all...fragile. We break easy, we fight easy, and I know that. But still, I got tired of it. It was exhausting hanging on to all that hatred, so I decided...screw it. I ain't gonna end up some cranky old 20-year old with the mind of a 200-year old. And that's how I went and talked with everyone I saw..."

"That must been hard for you..."

"It yes'd..."

"So, Madoka said you're Tabane's lackey?"

"Well, I have sworn loyalty to her since she saved me. So, in a way, yes," she looked up to the sky and saw a couple stars pierce through the ashy clouds, "But I'm here of my own accord..."

"Really?" he can't feel her aura either, but it didn't matter. They were both tired, "So, I guess you'll be heading back?"

"I'm afraid so," she said, "I'm Chloe, by the way. What is your name?"

"Sokoto...why do you-" he was interrupted by a kiss. Similar to his very first one with Cecilia, but this was far more intimate. When they finished, she got up to leave.

But not before giving him one last friendly gaze, "Because you've captivated me as well."

"Um...thanks? I think..." he let the words drift into nothing as she vanished from his sight. He didn't know what happened. And for some reason, he wants to know more. Because he can't feel her aura at all. Yet, he could tell that she warmed up to him as a result of his escapades with Phantom Task.

"Maybe a re-brand really is in order..." he whispered as he steadied himself serene and joined Madoka in her frantic yet fruitless chase to beat her embarrassment out of Autumn.

 **-NAGOYA PORT, ISE BAY; ONE MONTH AFTER ERUPTION-**

"Sorry, lady," someone at the port didn't want them sneaking on, "We can't board passengers on this ship. And I'm gonna need to see some ID."

"What do you say to 10 million and we go our separate ways?" Autumn negotiated.

The woman thought for ten seconds before taking the money, "Storage room, stern side." And she let them be.

"Well, this is it..." Sokoto said, "Anyone have any last goodbyes?"

"Knowing this crazy world," Madoka commented, "those pilots will be back in our brains in a couple months..."

"I'll standby for a few," Autumn plopped by the edge of the water, "You guys fool around until I call time."

"What's up?" Madoka asked, "No memories to share?"

"I'm exhausted, Nyaadoka," Autumn said a little irritated, "Any energy thinking was expended by you and chicken hair over there."

Sokoto was about to say something when he sensed that familiar aura from Mt Haruna. He immediately ran after the source, leaving the other two to bicker their wait out. He found it on the boat next to theirs.

"Kanzashi!" He called out and ran to her.

She looked behind her and recognized that hair anywhere, "Renegade? What brings you here?"

"Me and Phantom Task are leaving the country," he said, "What about you?"

"I told my superiors that I messed with the hidden broadcast," she confessed, "So I guess I'm outta here too."

"It was you, then," he said amazed, "Tabane blocked the live feed, but you somehow managed to duplicate it and send it all over the world."

"Well..." Kanzashi remembered that as a complete accident.

"And not only that, you saved me in Gunma. All that anti-IS gear, it was you."

"Yeah...guilty as charged..." she said sheepishly, "Still, I'm surprised that no one's come to take us dead yet."

"Hey, yeah...last I heard, didn't the yakuza control this place?"

"I'm betting they fell apart when the world found out they managed those prison camps."

"You think so?"

"It's a safe bet. So, where's Phantom Task going?"

"Alaska. And you?"

"New South Wales. It's very pristine this time of year."

"Hey, Nemo!" Madoka yelled, "Let's go already!"

Sokoto dazed himself, "The oracle beckons..."

"Better go then, little hero!" Kanzashi waved goodbye. Sokoto waved back, but, "Hey, take this with you!" She spat her lollipop into the air. He caught it with his mouth and gave her a peace sign, and she returned one back. When she entered her boat, she got a text,

"U talk with the R yet?"

Kanzashi sent back, "They're coming to you"

Returned, "I'm with Cecilia right now! PREPARE FOR ROBOT WARS!"

"Dear me..." Kanzashi said as she whipped out another lollipop.

 **-ONE HOUR LATER; BOUND FOR JUNEAU, U.S.-**

The sun slowly set on the blue horizon, blessing the ocean travelers with its beautiful orange scheme. The sky relinquished its bleak gray blanket and unveiled a starry canvas to blend in with the dimming lights. For the first time in a long time, the waters were calm, wishy washy as they swayed with the wind. The boat guiding Phantom Task sallied forth at full speed, unconcerned for the future as the past drifted away to the bottom of the ocean. Madoka and Autumn made their cozy blanket fortress by a lone window, with Sokoto sleeping on both laps. While Autumn stroked his hair, Madoka stared out at the endless blue.

"So, the IS Academy will reopen next week..." Madoka said, dazed.

"Dammit..." Autumn continued stroking his hair, "I thought he could put it out of commission for good..."

"No, it's a good thing...Japan is the strongest in IS...everywhere else is lacking...I don't wanna be bored by the time we get to England..."

"Speaking of...did Squall say anything about him?"

"Nope. Just said that he's the real reason Phantom Task was founded."

"And there's the locket name..." Autumn thought back to when they saw him open the locket for the first time. A piece of paper fluttered out into full view, with a name...

SKYLAR ALCOTT

How did that name come into Squall's possession? And why did Silver want it given to Sokoto? Questions that drained her energy just thinking about them. She just wanted a break from all this. Because these two headaches are in her care now, and she better spend the next couple weeks hibernating to relieve them.

Until the time comes to make every piece of s*** imaginable hit every single fan in existence, the only thing anyone can do is keep going forward.

Madoka silently chanted "Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming Swimming Swimming ~~~~~~~~~~"

until they all made it to Dreamland.

 _And that's all she wrote._

 _Phantom Task, once known as the multinational terrorist organization, now reduced to just three orphans, each with a hidden legacy that intertwines them together. With the Silver Streamline unresponsive after multiple attempts to awaken her from her slumber, Sokoto must look forward to something he's never done before: restore the spirit of the one who introduced him to a whole new world._

 _As for Japan, the IS Academy may be enrolling now, but the rest of the country has lost not only its core, but the world's trust as well. Surely, this will not be the last time they attempt revenge on the renegade. But with their pilots under absolute protection, it will be the last time they open their mouths prematurely._

 _The world is a crazy place. Open one door, five more emerge. Make one tiny crack, the entire shell crumbles. As the sun sets on the first season, one wonders if anything will be left._

 _A small hum may offer an answer. Since the eruption subsided, it can occasionally be heard through out the region..._

 _"Onii-chan...onee-chan...keep fighting..."_

 _Let's hope there's something left to build on, come season two of Infinite Stratos...Virus._


End file.
